PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


'% 


Shelf.. 


Division    .3X9-5  17 
Section vO  ♦--l-N.O.. 

Number.... 


THE 


CELEBRATION 


OF     TEiB 


Ssi^E'^i 


ANNIVERSARY 


OE"     TPiE: 


^he  (ploijy  of  (^hildj|en  at|e  theiii  ;ifatheii$. 


5""--l>e^    21^i.^^^ 


»'        \ 


In  the  Church,  Fifth  Avenue  and  Twenty-Ninth  Street. 


mm-i%m 


-A 


O' 


^ 


K) 


CONTENTS. 


IJicfatovy  Notice. 


Scvinccs  in  tl)c  Afternoon 

Br.  OrmistoiVs  Eemarhs. 
Br,  tFcrmiljjii's  Biscaursi3. 


Scruiccs  in  tt)c  ^ucning: 

|iddri3ss  of  tlic  Ej3U.  3i}r,  3i)ix. 
^jddr^ss  of  th£3  Ecu.  Br.  liiorjcrs. 


Jiddress  0f  the  Ecu.  Br.  Grosbtj. 
Address  0f  the  Heu.  Br.  Jirjder.s0n, 


^ddre.ss  of  the  Eeu.  Br.  Tiffamj. 
^-ddress  of  the  Eeu.  Br.  $torrs. 


THE  PROCEEDINGS 


.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Consistory  of  the  Reformed 
Protestant  Dutch  Church  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
held  September  5th,  1878,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chambers 
called  attention  to  the  fact,  (of  which  he  said  that  he 
had  recently  been  reminded  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Corwin, 
of  Millstone,  N.  'J.),  that  the  present  year  was  the 
250th  since  the  organization  of  this  church.  The 
evidence  of  the  fact  is  contained  in  the  second  volume 
of  the  "  Documents  relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of 
the  State  of  New  York,"  published  some  years  ago 
by  order  of  the  Legislature.  The  appendix  to  this 
volume  gives  at  length  a  letter  describing  the  first 
visit  of  an  ordained  minister  to  the  Island  of  Manhat- 
tan. The  letter  was  first  printed  about  twenty  years 
ago  in  the  Kcrk-InstoriscJi  ArcJiicf^  a  periodical 
issued  in  Amsterdam,  and  in  the  year  1858  was  trans- 
lated and  published  in  this  country  by  the  Hon.  Henry 
C.    Murphy,   then  minister  at  the   Hague.        It   was 


Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


addressed  by  die  Rev.  Jonas  Michaelius  to  the  Rev. 
Adrianus  Smoiitius,  of  Amsterdam.  The  writer  had 
served  as  chaplain  abroad  in  San  Salvador  and  Guinea 
on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  but  in  January,  1628, 
sailed  to  New  Amsterdam,  to  labor  under  the  super- 
intendence of  a  committee  of  ministers  appointed  by 
the  Synod  of  North  Holland.  The  present  letter  is 
the  first  written  after  his  arrival,  and  bears  date 
August  II.  In  it,  after  an  account  of  the  voyage  and 
its  hardships,  occurs  the  following  passage: 

"  We  have  first  established  the  form  of  a  church  {gemeeiite)  ;  and 
as  Brother  Bastiaen  Crol  very  seldom  comes  down  from  Fort  Orange, 
[Albany],  because  the  directorship  of  that  fort  and  the  trade  there  is 
committed  to  him,  it  has  been  thought  best  to  choose  two  elders  for 
my  assistance  and  for  the  proper  consideration  of  all  such  ecclesiastical 
matters  as  might  occur,  intending  the  coming  year,  if  the  Lord  permit, 
to  let  one  of  them  retire  and  to  choose  another  in  his  place  from  a 
double  number  first  lawfully  presented  by  the  congregation.  One  of 
those  whom  we  have  chosen  is  the  Honorable  Director  himself,  and  the 
other  is  the  store-keeper  of  the  Company,  Jan  Huyghen,  his  brother- 
in-law,  persons  of  very  good  character  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
learn ;  having  both  been  formerly  in  office  in  the  church,  the  one  as 
deacon,  the  other  as  elder,  in  the  Dutch  and  French  churches  respect- 
ively, at  Wesel. 

"We  have  had  at  the  first  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  full 
fifty  communicants — not  without  great  joy  and  comfort  for  so  many — 
Walloons  and  Dutch;  of  whom  a  portion  made  their  first  confession  of 
faith  before  us,  and  others  exhibited  their  church  certificates.  Others 
had  forgotten  to  bring  their  certificates  with  them,  not  thinking  that  a 
church  would  be  formed  and  established  here  ;  and  some,  who  had 
brought  them,  had  lost  them  unfortunately  in  a  general  conflagration, 
but  they  were  admitted   upon   the  satisfactory   testimony   of  others   to 


Protestant  Rcfonticd  Dutch  C/iinrh.  y 

whom  thev  were  known  and  also  upon  their  daily  good  deportment, 
since  we  cannot  observe  strictly  all  the  usual  formalities  in  making  a 
beginning  under  such  circumstances.  We  administer  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord  once  in  four  months,  provisionally  until  a  larger 
number  of  people  shall  otherwise  require.  The  Walloons  and  French 
have  no  service  on  Sunday,  other  than  that  in  the  Dutch  language,  ot 
which  they  understand  very  little.  Some  of  them  live  far  away  and 
could  not  come  on  account  of  the  heavy  rains  and  storms,  so  that  it 
was  neither  advisable,  nor  was  it  possible,  to  appoint  any  special  service 
for  so  small  a  number  with  so  much  uncertainty.  Nevertheless,  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  administered  to  them  in  the  French  language,  and 
according  to  the  French  mode,  with  a  preceding  discourse,  which  I 
had  before  me  in  writing,  as  I  could  not  trust  myself  extempora- 
neously." 

After  the  reading  of  this  document,  it  was  ''Resolved, 
that  this  Consistory  will  observe  the  250th  anniversary 
of  the  origin  and  founding  of  this  church,  and  that  a 
committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  confer  with  the 
pastors  and  report  on  the  time  and  manner  of  the 
celebration."  Messrs.  Theophilus  A.  Brouwer,  James 
Anderson,  M.  D.,  and  Henry  Van  Arsdale,  M.  D.,  were 
appointed  the  committee.  At  a  subsequent  meeting 
of  the  Consistory  this  committee  reported,  recom- 
mending that  the  celebration  take  place  on  the  21st 
of  November,  in  the  church  on  29th  Street  and  5th 
Avenue,  and  suggesting  such  services  as  they  consid- 
ered appropriate  to  the  occasion.  The  report  was 
adopted,  and  the  same  committee  was  continued,  with 
power  to  take  charge  of  the  anniversary  and  make 
the  necessary  provision  for  the  exercises  suggested. 
These    were    an     historical    discourse   by  the   senior 


Quarter- Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


pastor  in  the  afternoon,  and  a  series  of  addresses  of 
congratulation  and  sympathy  in  the  evening,  by  repre- 
sentatives of  the  different  denominations  in  our  city, 
together  with  devotional  services  rendered  by  honored 
brethren  of  our  own  communion,  the  whole  inter- 
spersed with  suitable  music.  The  committee  accord- 
ingly made  the  requisite  arrangements,  issued  invita- 
tions, prepared  programmes  and  gave  due  notice,  so 
that  when  the  day  arrived,  although  the  weather  was 
unfavorable,  large  audiences  were  in  attendance,  that 
of  the  evening  being  greater  than  the  seating  capacity 
of  the  church,  and  the  entire  plan  was  carried  out,  as 
shown  by  the  reports  herewith  given,  in  a  very 
gratifying  way.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Consistory 
(December  5)  that  body,  by  a  formal  vote,  tendered 
their  thanks  to  the  committee  "for  the  able  and  highly 
satisfactory  manner  in  which  they  had  discharged  their 
duties." 

The  building  in  which  the  services  were  held  was 
tastefully  decorated  for  the  occasion  with  flowers  and 
banners.  In  the  pulpit  alcove,  midway  between  floor 
and  ceiling,  was  fastened  a  wreath  of  red  and  white 
roses  encircling  a  white  dove.  A  delicate  festooned 
spray  of  ivy  ran  up  above  in  graceful  curves,  meeting 
the  edge  of  an  American  flag  on  the  left  and  the  edge 
of  the  Holland  standard  on  the  right.  The  flags 
swept  down  to  the  floor,  and  between  them  hung  an 
anchor  of  white  roses  and  pinks.  The  wall  on  each 
side  was  draped  with  American  flags.  -  The  front  of 


Prottsta)it  Rcfon)icd  Dittch  Church. 


the  preacher's  stand  was  festooned  with  arl)utus.  A 
mass  of  white  and  yellow  roses,  pinks  and  carnations, 
in  the  centre  of  which  in  red  flowers  was  worked  the 
number  "  250,"  adorned  the  front  of  the  desk.  On 
the  church  wall,  at  the  left  of  the  pulpit,  in  the  centre 
of  a  square  frame  of  evergreens  on  a  bank  of  white 
flowers,  was  worked  "1628,"  and  on  the  right,  in  a 
similar  manner,  "1878."  Colored  silk  banners  floated 
from  the  gallery  rail,  inscribed  "Faith,"  "Hope," 
"Charity,"  "Obedience,"  "Love,"  "Genius,"  "Cour- 
age," "Mercy,"  &c.  "Praise  God  from  whom  all 
blessings  flow,"  was  written  over  the  organ  pipes. 
The  atmosphere  of  the  church  was  redolent  of  the 
perfume  of  the  flowers. 

The  music,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  S.  Austen 
Pearce  and  Mr.  W.  E.  Beames,  rendered  by  several 
combined  choirs,  numbering  over  seventy  trained 
voices,  aided  by  the.  organ  and  appropriate  brass 
instruments,  was  of  a  very  high  order  of  merit. 

Seats  were  reserved  on  the  right  hand  of  the  pulpit 
for  ruling  elders  and  elders  of  the  Great  Consistory, 
and  on  the  left  for  deacons  in  office  and  deacons  of 
the  Great  Consistory.  The  officiating  ministers  occu- 
pied seats  in  the  pulpit.  They  were  followed  from 
the  vestry  by  Mayor  Ely,  Consul-General  Burlage, 
from  Holland ;  President  De  Peyster,  of  the  New 
York  Historical  Society;  President  Monroe,  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.;  Hon.  John  Jay,  William  E.  Dodge,  and 
other  well-known    residents   of   New  York.       Many 


lO  Quaiier-MillenniaL  Anniversary  of  tJie 


members  of  the  St.  Nicholas  and  Historical  Societies 
were  among  the  congregation,  and  an  unusually  large 
number  of  clergymen,  both  of  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church  and  of  all  the  other  evangelical  communions, 
occupied  seats  which  had  been  reserved  for  them  in 
the  front  of  the  church. 


Protestant  Rcfornud  Dutch  ChurcJi. 


II 


Present  (Dftuevs  of  tl)c  <CI)iivcl). 


Rev.  THOMAS  E.    VERMILYE,   D.D.,   LL.D.,   installed    October 
20,  1839. 

Rev.  TALBOT  W.  CHAMBERS,  D.D.,  installed  December  2,  1849. 

Rev.  WILLIAM    ORMISTON,  D.D.,  installed  September  11,  1870. 


(t^Ulcr.si. 


JAMES  ANDERSON, 
WILLIAM  BOGARDUS, 


DANIEL  P.  INGRAHAM, 
SAMUEL  B.  SCHIEFFELIN, 


THEOPHILUS  A.  BROUW^ER,       GAMALIEL  G.  SMITH, 


ROBERT  BUCK, 
PETER  DONALD, 
JOHN  GRAHAM, 


JOHN  L.  SMITH, 
HENRY  VAN  ARSDALE, 
JOHN  VAN  NEST. 


Ucaiott^. 


HENRY  W.  BOOKSTAVER, 
WILLIAM  L.  BROWER, 
JOHN  S.  BUSSING, 
ROBERT  DORSETT, 
WILLIAM  H.  DUNNING, 
JAMES  S.  FRANKLIN, 


ALEXIS  A.  JULIEN, 
HENRY  E.  KNOX, 
NEILSON  OLCOTT, 
WILLIAM   B.  RUNK, 
ABR'M  V.W.VAN  VECHTEN, 
CHARLES  H.  WOODRUFF. 


Clerk— GEORGE  S.  STITT,  Esc. 
Treasurer— JAMES  PHYFE. 


12 


Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


®l)c  @reat  donsietorjj. 


RICHARD  AMERMAN, 
JAMES  ANDERSON, 
ABRAHAM  BEEKMAN, 
ABRAHAM  BOGARDUS, 
WILLIAM  BOGARDUS, 
ORLANDO  M.  BOGART, 
HENRY  W.  BOOKSTAVER, 
JAMES  H.  BRIGGS, 
THEOPHILUS  A.  BROUWER, 
WILLIAM  L.  BROWER, 
ROBERT  BUCK, 
JOHN  S.  BUSSING, 
CORNELIUS  C.  DEMAREST, 
PETER  DONALD, 
ROBERT  DORSETT, 
WILLIAM  H.  DUNNING, 
JAMES  S.  FRANKLIN, 
WILLIAM  C.  GIFFING, 
DAVID  GILLESPIE, 
JOHN  GRAHAM, 
STEPHEN  HASBROUCK, 
DANIEL  HOWELL, 
WILLIAM  P.  HOWELL, 
DANIEL  P.  INGRAHAM, 
GEORGE  T.  JACKSON, 
PETER  A.  H.  JACKSON, 
ALEXIS  A.  JULIEN, 
CALVIN  E.  KNOX, 


HENRY  E.  KNOX, 
JOHN  LABAGH, 
FREDERICK  T.  LOCKE, 
FRANCIS  T.  LUQUEER, 
EBENEZER  MONROE, 
ELBERT  B.  MONROE, 
EDWARD  A.  MORRISON, 
NEILSON'OLCOTT, 
JAMES  PHYFE, 
WILLIAM  B.  RUNK, 
SAMUEL  B.  SCHIEFFELIN, 
GAMALIEL  G.  SMITH, 
GEORGE  SMITH, 
JOHN  L.  SMITH, 
GEORGE  S.  STITT, 
HENRY  SNYDER, 
HENRY  VAN  ARSDALE, 
JAMES  VAN  BENSCHOTEN, 
JOHN  VAN  NEST, 
ABRAHAM  V.  W.  VAN  VECHTEN, 
JASPER  T.  VAN  VLECK, 
CHARLES  VAN  WYCK, 
EVERARDUS  B.  WARNER, 
PETER  R.  WARNER, 
WILLIAM  WOOD, 
CHARLES  H.  WOODRUFF, 
JOHN  S.  WOODWARD, 
WALLACE  P.  WILLETT. 


Protestant  Refonned  DiitcJi  Church.  1 3 


profFpSings  in  f^p  2£ffprnoon. 


with  the  f0U0u;ing  pt0t}rammje. 


14  Quarter-Millenfiial  Annive7'sary  of  the 


^roigrammc  for  g^fternooii  Serbta. 


Beu.  i^^Jilliam  l4)i|mJston,  B.ltt). ,  piiesiding, 


S   ^Utltl^ttl  "'($  (pod,  when  (^hou  appeaijcst."  !pozattt 


3  ^aiirtm*^  Ratling  by  lUv.mm.  1$.  (^ampbeii,  b.b.  f  |i|§°* 


1.  Our  God,  our  help  in  ages  past,  3.  Time,  like  an  ever-rolling  stream. 

Our  hope  for  years  to  come.  Bears  all  its  sons  away ; 

Our  shelter  from  the  stormy  blast,  They  fly,  forgotten,  as  a  dream 

And  our  eternal  home  :  Dies  at  the  opening  day. 

2.  Before  the  hills  in  order  stood,  4.  Our  God,  our  help  in  ages  past. 

Or  earth  received  her  frame,  Our  hope  for  years  to  come, 

From  everlasting  Thou  art  God,  Be  Thou  our  guard  while  troubles  last, 

To  endless  years  the  same.  And  our  eternal  home  ! 


ProtcstcDit  Rcfonncd  Dutch  CluinJi.  1 5 


|)rogvumme  for  i^ftcrnoon  c^crbue. 


7   fumm   ?359  '  -  -  triune,  "  $t.  ^howas  ■• 

1.  I  love  Thy  kingdom,  Lord,  3.   If  e'er  to  bless  Thy  sons 

The  house  of  Thine  abode,  My  voice  or  hands  deny. 

The  church  our  blest  Redeemer  saved        These  hands  let  useful  skill  forsake, 
With  His  own  precious  blood.  This  voice  in  silence  die. 

2.  I  love  Thy  church,  O  God  !  4.  If  e'er  my  heart  forget 

Her  walls  before  Thee  stand,  Her  welfare  or  her  woe, 

Dear  as  the  apple  of  Thine  eye,  .  Let  every  joy  this  heart  forsake. 

And  graven  on  Thy  hand.  And  every  grief  o'erflow. 

5.  For  her  my  tears  shall  fall, 

Foi-  her  my  prayers  ascend  ; 
To  her  my  cares  and  toils  be  given 
Till  toils  and  cares  shall  end. 

8   gnllcUliaU   (ThorilSI  -  -  -  Beethoven 

9  Gloria  ^atri 

^  ^     (Kjs.  ■.'       '  (    Of  Theological 

to    ^^J^rtKtlOtt  by  Beu.  %.  ^1.  '(i^oodbridgc,  l^^^.  Y^^^^^^.^i,^;^, 

Music;  will  be  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  S.  Austen  Pearce. 

Mr.  W.  E.  Beames  will  preside  at  Organ. 


Protfstixnt  Rcfoniicd  Dutch  Church .  17 


MfFPnoon  jSpptiirp, 


.^t  tlivec  a'clach  the  Ecu.  Br.  Onnistan  toah 
the  chair,  and  after  the  appointed  musical  and 
deuatianal  seruices  had  heen  rendered,  made 
the  fallatuinij:  remarks  intraductanj  ta  the  dis- 
course of  the  occasion. 


Protestant  Rcforfiicd  Dutch  C  liurcJi.  1 9 


DR.  ORMISTON'S  REMARKS. 


For  a  nation,  church  or  family  to  commemorate 
marked  events  and  special  periods  in  their  past 
history  is  as  instinctively  natural  as  it  is  eminently 
profitable.  To  recall  with  reverence  and  pride  the 
moral  worth,  the  noble  deeds,  and  the  heroic  endur- 
ance of  a  devout,  faithful  and  valorous  ancestry  is  not 
more  grateful  than  it  is  dutiful.  Such  an  exercise  is 
fitted  to  quicken  piety,  deepen  gratitude,  inspire 
patriotism,  and  stimulate  to  high  and  emulous  en- 
deavor. 

Of  late,  in  all  parts  of  our  land,  centennial  celebra- 
tions have  been  frequent  and  various,  connected  with 
events  relating  to  the  independence  of  the  country 
and  the  formation  of  its  o-overnment.  Doubtless  these 
services  have  availed  much  in  deepening  the  senti- 
ments of  patriotism  and  reverence  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people. 

Many  churches,  also,  have  taken  a  retrospective 
survey  of  their  origin  and  progress,  with  a  view  to 
fresher  effort  for  greater  achievements  in  the  future. 

This  is  the  purpose  of  our  assembly  to-day.     We 


20  Quarter- Mill ouiial  Ajinivcrsary  of  tJic 

propose  reverently  and  gratefully  to  refer  to  the  or- 
ganization and  history  of  a  congregation  whose  origin 
is  coeval  with  the  first  settlement  of  the  country,  and 
antedates  the  founding  of  our  city.  It  is  probably  the 
only  Protestant  church  organization  in  the  United 
States  which  has  attained  its  two  hundred  and  fiftieth 
year. 

Shortly  after  the  exploradon  of  the  Hudson  by  the 
adventurous  navio^ator  whose  name  it  bears,  emio^rants 
from  Holland,  then  a  powerful  state  and  the  home  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  came  to  the  Island  of  Man- 
hattan and  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  for  purposes  of 
trade.  They  brought  with  them  an  open  Bible  and 
religious  ordinances,  and  were  the  first  evangelists  in 
the  state. 

Their  interesting  story  will  be  eloquently  told  by 
my  revered  colleague,  the  senior  pastor  of  the  church, 
to  whom,  with  great  propriety,  that  duty  has  been 
assigned. 

I  would  only  further  say,  that,  without  detracting  in 
the  slightest  degree  from  the  merits  -and  services  of 
other  early  setders  and  churches,  we  may,  with  perfect 
sincerity  and  becoming  modesty,  claim,  for  our  Dutch 
forefathers,  a  prominent  place  in  establishing  the  civil 
and  religious  institutions  of  this  republic. 

The  Reformed  Protestant  Church  of  the  Nether- 
lands, whence  they  came,  was  characterized  by  a  sound 
scriptural  orthodoxy  and  a  liberal,  enlightened  charity. 
Stea*dfast  in  principle  and  catholic  in  spirit,  her  rela- 


• 
Protcstivit  Reformed  Dukh  Church.  2 1 


tions  with  the  churches  of  Great  l)rilaiii  were  intimate 
and  friendly.  The  persecuted  of  other  countries 
soueht  a  refuse  in  that  land  and  received  a  cordial 
welcome  from  the  church.  Freedom  of  conscience 
was  the  common  privilege  of  all — citi/en  and  stranger 
alike.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  themselves,  w^hose  fre- 
quent eulogiums  are  well  merited,  found  there  a  home, 
and  a  school  where  they  learned  much  concerning  the 
management  of  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical  affairs, 
which  greatly  affected  their  views  and  policy  in  mould- 
ing the  institutions  of  the  new  world  where  they 
found  a  permanent  home. 

We  may  be  honestly  proud  of  the  founders  and 
fathers  of  our  venerable  church.  Faithful  in  their 
adherence  to  scriptural  doctrine  and  the  rights  of  con- 
science— insisting  on  an  educated  ministry  for  the 
church  and  orood  common  schools  for  the  children — 
staunch  and  dauntless  in  the  maintenance  of  civil 
freedom  and  free  institutions — industrious,  frutral  and 
home-loving  in  their  habits,  they  were  fit  founders  of 
the  institutions  of  a  new  land,  and  worthy  ancestors 
of  a  free,  God-fearing  posterity.  Directly  and  indi- 
rectly we  owe  them  much,  and  we  lovingly  revere 
their  memory'. 

Nor  would  I  claim  too  much  were  I  to  say  that, 
though  we  may  differ  from  our  honored  ancestors  in 
many  things,  yet  as  a  church  we  still  retain  the  same 
love  for  the  truth  of  God,  and  the  same  zeal  for  its 
maintenance,  defence  and  extension  ;   and  sustain  to- 


22  Quarter- Millennial  A?iniversary  of  the 

wards  all  other  evangelical  churches  the  same  loving, 
brotherly  regards. 

Holding  the  same  system  of  doctrine — maintaining 
the  same  ecclesiastical  polity — observing  the  same 
customs  with  but  little  variation,  and  evincinof  the 
same  spirit  of  christian  catholicity,  the  Reformed 
Church  of  to-day  exhibits  many  lineaments  which  un- 
mistakably indicate  her  hereditary  family  likeness. 
Cherishing  tenaciously  her  own  time-honored  customs, 
she  profoundly  respects  the  conscientious  convictions 
and  established  practices  of  all  sister  churches,  with 
whom  she  seeks  to  live  in  the  unity  of  the  Spirit,  as 
children  of  the  same  Father,  and  servants  of  the  same 
King,  May  our  precious  heritage  be  the  inheritance 
of  our  children. 


Protestant  Re/onned  Dutch  ChurcJi.  23 


DR.  VERMILYE'S  DISCOURSE. 


PRELIMINARY    REMARKS. 


The  speaker  prefaced  the  address  with  the  follow- 
ing remarks :  "  I  have  received  many  visits,  and  a 
number  of  letters  from  various  quarters,  which  show 
the  profound  interest  everywhere  taken  in  this  anni- 
versary. One  of  these  is  from  a  lady  in  Philadelphia, 
whose  possession  of  the  time-honored  prefix  '  Van,' 
vouches  for  her  right  to  send  a  letter  of  congratula- 
tion. I  have  also  here  a  copy  of  the  charter,  granted 
by  William  III,  in  1696,  to  'the  minister,  elders  and 
deacons  of  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church  of 
tlie  City  of  New  York.'  Among  the  Incorporators  are 
names  still  found  among  us — William  Beekman  and 
Jacob  Kip. 

"I  hold  in  my  hand — (Dr.  V.  exhibited  a  handsome 
gold-headed  cane) — an  interesting  memorial,  pre- 
sented in  commemoration  of  this  occasion  by  one  who 
is  a  Van  of  the  Vans.  It  is  made  of  a  piece  of  the 
wood  used  in  the  construction  of  the  old  North 
Church  in  William  Street,   recently  taken  down,  and 


24  Quarter-Millennial  A}inivcrsary  of  the 


within  the  top  is  placed  a  thimbleful  of  the  soil  of  the 
Netherlands  ming-led  with  a  little  earth  taken  from 
the  spot  where  the  first  Dutch  Church  on  this  conti- 
nent was  planted,  thus  aptly  symbolizing,  as  the  donor 
happily  expresses  it,  the  union  of  the  two  countries  in 
the  commingling  of  their  soils.  Upon  the  head  is 
engraved  the  name  of  Dr.  Vermilye,  and  upon  the 
sides  those  of  Drs.  Chambers  and  Ormiston,  with  the 
years  1628,  1728.  I  shall  keep  it  and  prize  it  dearly 
till  I  die." 


Protestant  Reformed  DittcJi  C/uiir/i. 


-'3 


DISCOU  RSE 


W'k  mekt  b}'  the  invitation  of  "  The  Consistory  of  the 
Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Churcli  of  the  City  of  New 
York,"  to  commemorate  the  250th  Anniversary  of  its 
existence — the  Mother  of  the  Dutch  Churches  in  this  City, 
and,  in  a  sense,  of  the  entire  denomination:  of  regularly 
organized  churches  the  eldest,  we  believe,  of  the  Protestant 
family  on  the  continent :  the  forerunner,  commissioned  like 
the  Baptist  in  the  wilderness,  to  herald  on  the  shores  of  the 
newly  discovered  world  the  sublime  command,  "  Prepare 
\'e  the  wa}-  of  the  Lord  :  make  straight  in  the  desert  a 
highway  for  our  God."  The  occasion  appeals  naturally  to 
the  sympathies,  not  of  the  people  of  this  particular  congrega- 
tion or  of  our  communion  only,  but  to  the  descendants  of 
the  Dutch  wherever  and  in  whatever  religious  connexion 
they  may  be  found  ;  to  our  fellow  christians  of  every  name ; 
no  less  to  the  student  of  history,  the  man  of  letters,  the 
patriot  who  is  interested  in  the  development  of  the  state ; 
to  every  one  who  intelligently  notes  the  march  of  events,  and 
hopes  and  believes  in  human  advancement.  The  Consistory 
has  assigned  to  me  the  duty  and  the  honor  of  giving  the 
commemorative  discourse.  And  without  delaying  upon 
the  "  exordium  reiiwtuni "  of  our  ancient  form,  and  without 
formal  approach  by  rhetorical  preliminaries,  I  pass  at  once 
to  the  subject  before  us. 

Of  the  people  who  early  settled  this  continent  from  the 
various  parts  of  Kurope,  two,  or  rather  three,  nationalities 
were  especially  present.  And  these,  let  it  be  marked,  were 
the  most  advanced  in  civil  libert}-,  and  the  most  determined  • 
defenders  of  the  Protestant  faith  :  the  English,  who  first 
settled  Virginia,  but  afterwards  were  more  largel)'  represented 


26  Quarter- Millennial  Annivet'sary  of  tJie 

by  the  Puritans  of  New  England ;  and  the  Dutch,  who 
founded  Manhattan,  spread  along  the  Hudson  as  far  as 
Albany,  west  into  New  Jersey  and  down  upon  the  Delaware. 
With  subsequent  immigrations  came  the  Huguenots  in  con- 
siderable numbers,  flying  from  the  fiery  persecutions  in  France. 
And,  although  companies  of  them  located  in  Maine  and 
Massachusetts,  where  their  names  and  some  interesting  relics 
still  exist ;  and  others  found  a  home  in  and  about  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  and  are  yet  represented  there  by  worthy 
descendants  —  the  largest  portion  established  themselves  in 
this  region.  Their  social  and  flexible  character  caused  them 
easily  to  assimilate  and  become  one  with  the  Dutch,  while 
they  in  turn  exerted  a  very  happy  influence  upon  the  people 
with  whom  they  mingled  ;  and  to  this  day,  places  and  families 
among  the  most  noted  and  honored  in  the  land,  bearing 
Huguenot  names,  attest  the  excellent  quality  of  that  element 
in  the  formation  of  our  social,  and  religious,  and  political  life. 
But  from  Holland  came  the  founders  of  our  City  and 
State  :  "  our  Alban  Fathers  and  the  walls  of  lofty  Rome." 
It  is  a  singular  territory.  There,  man,  under  the  most  un- 
propitious  conditions,  in  the  words  of  the  poet,  has  "  scooped 
out  an  empire  and  usurped  the  shore."  It  lies  on  the  border 
of  the  sea — almost  /;/  the  sea — opposite  the,  south-east  coast 
of  England  ;  and  has  been  formed  evidently  by  the  detritus  of 
the  rivers,  the  Rhine  especially,  brought  down  even  from  the 
high  Alps,  and  by  the  sand  thrown  up  from  the  abyss  of  the 
ocean ;  originally  a  morass,  which  the  tide  overflowed,  and 
which  no  sagacity  could  have  predicted  would  become  dry 
land  fit  to  be  inhabited  ;  the  accretions  of  ages  and  persistent 
skill  have  brought-  it  forth.  The  rivers  have  flowed  on  and 
left  their  deposits  ;  the  ocean  has  piled  up  the  sand  for  soil, 
and  pebbles  and  stones  which  formed  the  downs  ;  and  by 
vast  labors  of  man  they  have  become  a  solid  bulwark  against 
the  farther  encroachment  of  the  waters,  securing  a  safe  and 
commodious  habitation.  Many  parts  lie  much  below  the  level 
of  the  sea,  protected  from  inundation  only  by  the, dykes.  And 
it  was  very  exciting  in  riding  through  the 'beautiful  park  at 


Protestant  Reformed  Dnteh  Chureli.  27 

Rotterdam,  to  pass  along  the  base  of  this  wall  and  see  sea- 
going steamers  and  ships,  of  the  largest  bulk,  at  anchor 
apparently  more  than  a  hundred  feet  directly  above  us.  The 
dyke  was  the  only  protection.  And  as  I  gazed,  I  realized 
the  grandeur  of  the  divine  interdict,  "  Hitherto  shalt  thou 
come  and  no  farther:  and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be 
stayed."  Much  of  the  soil  thus  recovered  from  the  sea,  with 
incredible  toil  and  cost,  would  be  thought  too  poor  to 
recompense  the  husbandman.  But  the  patient  industry  of 
a  free  people,  expended  upon  it  for  centuries,  has  made  it 
productive  almost  beyond  imagination.  And  those  parts 
recovered  directly  from  the  ocean,  and  at  first  but  sand,  were 
made  among  the  most  productive  of  all.  Everywhere  rich 
vegetation  appeared.  Populous  and  thriving  cities  grew  up 
like  lodges  in  a  garden  of  delights.  The  canals  also,  so 
readih'  constructed  and  supplied  with  water,  became  an  easy 
means  of  internal  communication  ;  like  the  blood  vessels  of 
the  human  system  conveying  life  and  vigor  throughout  the 
corporate  body. 

But  besides  its  agricultural  character,  and  perhaps  almost 
by  a  natural  necessity,  from  its  proximity  to  the  sea,  Holland 
became  a  maritime  power.  Its  hardy  sons  were  trained  to 
face  the  storms  and  breast  the  billows  of  every  ocean,  and 
bring  home  the  treasures  of  "  the  gorgeous  East  and  the  open- 
ing West."  Thus  by  the  operation  of  natural  causes  and  the 
persistent  labor  of  an  energetic  race  was  the  country  gradually 
prepared  for  a  high  destiny.  Small  in  size — scarcely  appear- 
ing upon  the  geographical  map  of  Europe — and  most  un- 
promising at  the  beginning,  instead  of  remaining  a  sterile 
and  desolate  shore,  where  only  the  fisherman  spread  his  nets, 
it  has  supported  in  abundance  and  happiness  a  greater  number 
of  people  in  proportion  to  its  area,  than  any  other  country 
on  the  globe.  Other  lands  needed  but  to  be  cleared  for 
occupation — this  to  be  created.  Its  existence  shows  how 
intelligent,  untiring  industry,  against  almost  insuperable  diffi- 
culties, can  make  "the  desert  blossom  like  the  rose."  As  its 
history  will  likewise  teach  us  what  man  himself  may  become 


28  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


under  the  pressure  of  great  and  urgent  necessities.  I  am 
reminded  of  a  pleasant  anecdote  told  by  the  late  Hermanns 
Bleecker.  When  he  was  minister  near  the  Hague,  he  was 
accompanied  on  one  occasion  by  a  gentleman  of  high  position, 
to  the  top  of  the  main  church  in  Amsterdam,  from  which 
one  might  take  in  at  one  view  almost  the  entire  seven 
provinces.  As  they  looked  around,  the  gentleman  exclaimed 
with  great  animation  and  pardonable  pride,  "  we  are  a  small 
territory,  Mr.  Bleecker,  but  we  are  a  great  people." 

And  in  truth  their  history  is  even  more  remarkable  than 
the  physical  characteristics  of  the  country.  As  far  back  as 
authentic  records  penetrate,  the  people  of  the  Low  Countries, 
i.  c.  of  the  northern  provinces,  which  we  intend  when  we 
speak  of  Holland,  as  distinguished  from  the  Highlands,  to 
which  the  country  rises  from  the  sea  on  the  east  and  the 
south,  and  whose  inhabitants  were  originally  from  a  different 
stock  and  have  always  showed  somewhat  different  traits — from 
the  earliest  annals  the  people  of  the  lowlands  have  borne  one 
character:  simple,  frugal,  honest,  patient  of  toil;  intelligent 
rather  than  imaginative ;  not  propefise  to  war,  yet  indomita- 
bly bold,  full  of  endurance,  and  prompt  to  maintain  their 
liberty  and  rights.  Their  local  situation  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  the  peaceable  occupations  of  agriculture  and 
commerce  were  their  natural  destiny.  Enterprise  would  be 
expended  in  trade  for  the  acquisition  of  wealth  rather  than 
in  the  pursuit  of  military  renown,  the  extension  of  territory, 
or  the  enlargement  of  power.  Yet  no  country  in  Europe 
has  been  so  often  the  theatre  of  sanguinary  wars — not  of  her 
own  seeking,  but  in  defense  of  her  soil  ;  or,  as  the  convenient 
battle  ground  of  her  neighbors  where  their  common  liberty 
was  vindicated.  And  their  endurance  and  successes  are  the 
astonishment  of  the  world.  It  would  seem  as  if  an  invading 
army  might  march  over  the  level  land  almost  without  resist- 
ance. But  Caesar's  trained  legions  were  boldly  met  and 
checked  by  the  intrepid  Belgai.  For  eighty  years  the  conflict 
was  prolonged  with  Spain,  the  strongest,  power  in  Europe. 
There  William   of  Orange,  in    the    spirit   of  his    memorable 


Protcstcxnt  Reformed  Dutch  C/nnr/i.  29 


motto  :  "  I  will  viaintain;  /will  hold  on  ;  "  now  beaten,  antl 
then  victorious,  kept  the  French  at  bay  ;  and  Marlborough 
succeeding  him,  at  length  foiled  their  best  armies  until  the 
Grand  Alonarque  was  ruined  by  the  struggle.  They  had 
conquered  the  land  from  the  ocean  ;  they  held  it  against  all 
comers.  And  Holland  achiexed  the  glory  of  a  nation  of 
heroes  ;  as  by  her  commerce  she  subsidized  the  east  and  the 
west,  gathered  their  wealth  into  her  treasur\'  and  became  the 
richest  people  in  the  world.  So  was  it  with  the  Queen  of 
the  Adriatic.  And  in  many  respects  the  history  of  these 
tuo  most  singular  countries  is  not  dissimilar. 

But  Holland  was  not  merely  a  field  of  arms,  or  a  nation 
of  traders.  She  became  also  the  chosen  seat  of  learning.  The 
education  of  the  young  was  carefully  regarded.  An  evidence 
of  a  very  interesting  character  survives  in  the  school  of  our 
church,  still  flourishing  as  ever,  under  Mr.  Dunshee,  its  able 
principal;  the  first  literary  institution  probably  in  the  country; 
established  in  1626,  and  the  teachers  brought  from  Holland 
at  that  early  date.  It  proves  the  value  the  Dutch  placed  on 
right  education.  Their  universities,  Utrecht  and  Leyden  es- 
pecially, were  among  the  foremost  in  a  learned  age.  Men 
of  renown  filled  the  professorial  chairs,  and  students  came 
from  all  parts.  The  founding  of  the  university  at  Leyden 
rises  to  moral  sublimity.  When,  by  the  unconquerable  bold- 
ness of  her  sons,  the  tide  of  Spanish  invasion  had  been  rolled 
away,  the  Prince  of  Orange,  in  remembrance  and  acknowledg- 
ment of  their  deeds,  offered  to  make  Leyden  the  seat  of  an 
annual  fair  which  ^\•ould  bring  wealth  to  the  city,  or  of  a 
university  :  and  the  citizens  grandly  chose  the  L^niversity. 
^ There  it  has  stood  and  stands — the  monument  of  the  great 
struggle  and  of  the  heroism  of  their  fathers  ;  but  still  more 
the  monument  of  their  nobility  of  thought;  perpetuating  their 
intellectual  and  moral  life  :  the  life  of  culture,  of  progress,  of 
power,  of  a  free  people,  which  the  blood  of  the  sires  purchased 
for  their  sons.  Few  things  are  so  impressive  as  to  stand, 
as  I  have  done  more  than  once,  in  its  council  chamber,  and 
recall  its  origin,  and  look   upon  the  portraits  of  scholars  and 


30  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


statesmen,  orators  and  soldiers,  whose  names  are  the  glory  of 
their  own  land,  and  whose  figures  stand  boldly  out  upon  the 
historic  canvass  of  the  great  men  of  all  times. 

The  invention  of  printing,  the  art  of  arts,  contested  by 
several  and  especially  by  Gutenberg,  of  Mentz,  belongs, 
almost  demonstrably  to  Koster,  of  Haarlem,  about  1438; 
although  improved  and  perfected,  it  may  be,  by  Gutenberg, 
from  models  secretly  conveyed,  it  is  said,  from  Koster. 

And  it  is  worthy  of  note,  that  the  Latin  Vulgate  was 
probably  the  first  complete  printed  volume,  done  by  Guten- 
berg, at  Mentz,  about  1455.  In  Holland,  the  press  was 
free  from  censorship,  which  continued  in  England  as  late  as 
1694  so  that  authors  interdicted  there  printed  their  books 
abroad.  Tyndale's  translation,  1535,  not  allowed  to  be  print- 
ed in  England,  was  thus  printed  abroad  and  carried  back  and 
secretly  distributed  at  home.  Thus  Germany  and  Holland 
deserve  the  credit,  beyond  their  age,  of  just  and  advanced 
thought  and  corresponding  action,  in  this  great  means  of 
public  enlightenment  and  progress  ;  and  by  its  liberal  course, 
Holland,  in  its  full  measure,  became  the  printing  and  publish- 
ing house  of  Europe ;  much  to  its  own  advantage  as  well 
as  that  of  letters.  Milton  would  there  have  found  no  cause  to 
fulminate  his  grand,  indignant  sentences,  to  the  men  of  the 
great  commonwealth,  on  unlicensed  printing  ;  and  Locke,  as 
late  as  1694,  would  have  had  no  call  to  utter  protests  on  the 
same  subject,  happily,  the  last  protests  needed  in  free  and 
enlightened  England. 

From  such  causes  and  the  toleration  there  existing,  scholars 
as  well  as  persecuted  religionists,  and  even  political  refugees, 
long  found  a  safe  and  quiet  asylum  in  the  Low  Countries. 
Burnet  and  Locke,  with  others,  driven  from  England,  took 
shelter  there  and  freely  pursued  their  studies.  These  latter 
remarks  apply,  however,  most  strictly  to  the  times  when  and 
after  the  Republic  was  inaugurated.  The  period  of  her  great- 
ness was  one  of  those  epochs  in  which  mind  seems  to  be 
uncommonly  active,  and  all  the  wheels  of  life  roll  on  with 
uncommon    energy.      From    1500,   onwards,   for   nearly  two 


Protestant  Rcforuicd  DiitcJi  Chiinh.  31 

centuries,  Holland  perfornietl  the  most  illustrious  part  on  the 
theatre  of  events.  She  seemed  the  pixot  on  which  Europe 
moved.  It  was  the  time  of  her  (greatest  sufferinj^s,  and  of  her 
meridian  splendor.  She  was  tiie  mainsprin<^  and  scat  of 
political  negotiations;  the  arena  of  battles;  the  mediator  of 
peace ;  the  retreat  of  the  persecuted  for  conscience  sake  from 
other  lands;  the  strenj^th  of  the  weak,  and  the  light-bearer 
of  the  times.  Her  statesmen  read  law  to  the  nations;  her 
warriors  fought  the  battles  of  freedom  and  shattered  the  arm 
of  arbitrary  power ;  her  scholars  instructed  the  mind  of  the 
age  ;  her  di\-ines  expounded  the  faith  by  which  Protestantism 
yet  live-s.  We  give  this  as  a  true  description  of  Holland's 
place  and  influence  in  the  time  of  her  maturity;  and  from  this 
land  of  wonders,  from  such  a  stock,  at  just  about  the  culmi- 
nating point  of  this  great  social  and  national  development, 
came  the  discoverers  and  first  settlers  of  Manhattan. 

The  juncture  of  time  was  of  most  auspicious  omen.  In 
the  year  1609,  the  long  conflict  with  Spain  was  suspended  at 
the  suggestion  of  Philip  III,  by  a  truce  for  twelve  years.  The 
indomitable  Dutch  were  reluctant  to  accept  it,  so  little  did 
they  bend  under  their  burden — so  warlike  had  they  become. 
For  during  the  whole  continuance  of  the  struggle  they  were 
carrying  on  their  commerce  and  actually  augmenting  their 
strength.  The  truce  was  in  reality  a  confession  on  the  part 
of  Spain  that  she  was  vanquished,  and  practicalK'  established 
the  independence  of  the  United  Netherlands.  Henceforth, 
Holland  was  acknowledged  among  nations  as  a  free,  self- 
governing  Republic.  It  was  in  the  very  same  year  that 
Hudson  sailed  on  the  voyage  which  resulted  in  the  discovery 
of  the  river  that  bears  his  name,  which  he  explored  to  Albany  ; 
and  in  the  acquisition  by  Holland  of  the  vast  region  extending 
from  the  Capes  of  Delaware  to  Canada,  styled  the  New 
Netherlands.  True,  discoveries  had  already  been  made  by  the 
English  in  Virginia;  the  Huguenots  in  Florida;  the  French 
in  Acadia,  now  Canada.  But  the  wide  region  I  have  mention- 
ed was  yet  unknown.  The  Dutch  explored  Long  Island 
Sound  and  discoxered  the  Hou.satonic  and  Connecticut  rivers. 


3  2  Qiiarter-Milleitnial  Anniversary  of  the 


and  rightly  claimed  the  adjoining  territory  which  the  English 
wrested  from  them  ;  nor  w^ere  content  until  thev  had  corp-ed 
New  Amsterdam  also.  The  admirable  adaptation  of  this 
island  as  a  mart  of  trade  with  the  natives,  and  of  the  harbor 
for  commerce  was  quickly  understood.  In  1 6 14,  the  New 
Netherlands  Company  was  chartered  for  four  years,  and  made 
Manhattan  a  trading  port.  In  1621,  the  West  India  Company 
was  formed  to  conduct  commerce  in  the  west,  and  Manhattan 
came  under  their  power  in  fee.  And  it  should  never  be 
forgotten  that  the  island  first  held  by  discovery  and  occupancy, 
the  right  of  might,  was  in  162 1  fairly  purchased  from  the 
natives,  thus  admitting  their  ownership,  for  twenty-four  dollars.* 

The  West  India  Company  appointed  its  own  governors 
of  the  island,  and  of  course  its  affairs  were  conducted  on 
Dutch  principles,  as  well  as  by  Dutch  men.  The  principles 
were  integrity  and  strict  honor ;  the  men  righteous  and  often 
dogmatical  governors. 

Hitherto  I  have  not  spoken  of  Religion.  It  was  not  to  be 
imagined  that  a  people  so  reflective  and  earnest  should  be 
indifferent  on  such  a  subject  either  at  home  or  in  their  colonies. 
Always  their  national  life  had  been  invigorated  by  religious 
faith.  When,  then,  the  Reformation  arose,  it  was  a  thiner  of 
course  that  the  new  movement,  which  upheaved  the  founda- 
tions of  society  in  the  nations  around,  should  at  once  awaken 
deep  interest  and  sympathy  in  Holland,  and  that  the  sim- 
plicity of  form  and  purity  of  doctrine  of  the  new  teachers, 
when  once  understood,  should  be  preferred  by  very  many  to 
the  corrupt  teachings  and  elaborate  and  sensuous  ceremonial 
of  Popery.  And  they  had  the  charm  of  novelty.  But  there 
was  a  special  cause  which,  beyond  question,  had  great  influence 
in    confirming   this    feeling.       The    nation    with    which    they 

*  Our  honored  president  of  the  Historical  Society  has  made  a  curious  calcula- 
tion that  by  this  time,  computing  interest,  the  $24  would  reach  a  sum  almost 
beyond  the  power  of  figures.  It  brings  to  mind  an  incident  in  the  early  history  of 
Massachussetts,  when  a  large  portion  of  the  town  of  West  Springfield,  one  of  the 
most  beautifnl  parts  of  the  Connecticut  river,  was  '■'swapped^''  for  a  wheelbarrow. 
What  that  barrow  would  be  worth  at  this  time  (in  fiat  money)  I  cannot  say. 
But  it  .should  be  an  Alpine  heap. 


Protestant  Reformed  Dutch  Church.  33 


warred,  their  cruel  and  relentless  oppressor,  was  Catholic : 
who  forbade  all  freedom  of  action  and  even  of  thought  upon 
religious  subjects  ;  who  had  pursued  them  in  ferocious  war 
on  that  account ;  whose  determined  purpose  it  had  been 
for  eighty  years  to  force  Popery  upon  them  with  its  hellish 
inquisition,  its  servility  and  chains.  They  had  resisted  unto 
blood  in  maintaining  the  better  part ;  and  it  had  the  power 
over  them  of  dearly  purchased  right.  The  system  they  chose, 
however,  was  not  derived  from  German}',  as  might  have  been 
expected,  but  from  France  or  Genev^a.  They  became  Calvin- 
ists  and  Presb}'terians — not  Lutherans — and  that  was  the  form 
they  introduced  into  the  colony.  The  precise  time  of  planting 
the  church  here  was  also  significant.  It  was  not  only  at  the 
period  of  Holland's  supremacy,  in  social  elegance,  in  learning, 
in  jurisprudence  and  politics  ;  but  it  was  during  the  agita- 
tions attendant  upon  and  succeeding  the  sitting  of  the  celebra- 
ted Synod  of  Dort :  a  fact  which  very  discernably  exerted  an 
influence  upon  the  church  of  the  colony,  as  it  did  upon  all 
the  interests  of  church  and  state  at  home.  Of  that  famous 
Synod  let  us  then  say  a  few  words.  It  was  convoked  by  the 
States  General ;  was  composed  of  delegates  from  the  several 
provinces,  and  from  the  foreign  churches;  the  Church  of 
England  included,  and  only  the  French  Reformed  absent,  by 
the  interdict  of  their  king.  It  met  at  Dort  on  the  13th  of 
November,  16 18,  and  was  called  to  consider  and  settle  the 
theological  controversy  which  arose  from  the  teachings  of 
James  Arminius,  professor  of  theology  at  Leyden,  which 
were  opposed  by  Francis  Gomarus,  likewise  professor.  Hence 
the  parties  were  designated  as  Arminians  and  Gomarists ;  but 
from  a  remonstrance  presented  by  the  minority,  they  were 
also  more  generally  known  as  remonstrants,  who  were  the 
Arminia'ns,  and  contra-remonstrants,  who  were  Gomarists  or 
Calviilists — and  certainly  of  the  straighter  sort.  It  was  sub- 
stantially the  old  controv^ersy  of  Augustine  and  Pelagius,  and 
later  of  the  Semi-Pelagians.  It  was  before  Augustine;  for  of 
such  controversies,  whether  of  form  or  substance,  it  may  be 
truly  said,  there  is  nothing  new  imder  the  sun  ;  nor  was  it 


34  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  tJie 

finally  disposed  of  in  his  time.  And  although  the  points  in 
issue  were  thoroughly  discussed  at  Dort,  it  was  not  then  termi- 
nated ;  and  we  may  predict  it  never  will  be  to  the  universal 
agreement  of  minds  that  think,  as  free  minds  will  think,  from 
different  positions  upon  different  lines.  The  more  imperative 
the  reason  for  tolerance  and  charity.  The  Synod  held  152 
sessions,  and  was  dissolved  in  May,  1619 :  the  president 
declaring  that "  its  miraculous  labors  had  made  hell  tremble  ;  " 
a  prominent  member  saying  that  in  that  Synod  "  there  were 
some  things  divine ;  some  things  human ;  and  some  things 
diabolical."  The  proportions  however  not  precisely  stated. 
Anterior  to  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  the  matters  in  dispute 
had  convulsed  the  universities  and  churches  and  families,  and 
involved  the  peace  of  the  state.  Nor  did  the  decisions  of  the 
Synod  which  were  on  the  side  of  the  Calvinists,  they  being 
the  majority,  allay  the  storm.  Alas !  that  such  dire  effects 
should  flow  from  such  causes.  Yet  thfs  is  human  nature. 
And  all  history  teaches  that  the  wildest  excitements  and  the 
fiercest  wars,  have  sprung  up  on  just  such  apparently  inappro- 
priate grounds.  I  do  not  think  that  they  who  most  cordially 
adopt  the  theological  conclusions  of  the  Synod  are  bound, 
at  this  day,  to  defend  the  spirit  .which,  for  a  large  part,  anima- 
ted its  leaders.  In  many  of  their  utterances  and  deeds  they 
manifested  anything  but  christian  meekness  and  were  vindic- 
tive and  cruel.  But  private  interests  became  deeply  implicated, 
and  passions  were  embittered  and  furious.  And,  in  judging  the 
case,  candor  bids  us  remember  that  Calvinism  was  the  long 
settled  creed  of  Holland — that  the  Arminians  were  the  ag- 
gressors— that  in  the  pulpits  and  even'  in  the  theological 
chairs  they  persisted,  contrary  to  earnest  expostulation  in 
teaching  doctrines  which  the  Calvinists  sincerely  believed  not 
only  to  be  contrary  to  the  standards,  but  subversive  of  the 
faith  delivered  to  the  saints.  And  the  experience  they  had 
had  in  the  Catholic  church,  showed  them  the  power  of  ideas 
to  corrupt ;  made  them  more  intense  in  their  beliefs ;  and 
warned  them  against  principles  which  they  imagined  led  by 
logical  sequence,  to  some  of  the  worst  errors  of  Rome.     They 


Protestant  Reformed  Dutch  Church.  35 


may  ha\c  been  w  lont;",  but,  no  doubt,  thc\'  were  sincere. 
The  question  inxohed  is  a  \er\-  plain  one.  It  is  not  whether 
men  sliall  teach  and  act  according;  to  their  conx-ictions,  but 
whether  it  is  honest  and  to  be  tolerated,  that  they  shall  use 
the  adw'intagcs  of  position  and  emoluments  the}'  ha\e  received 
on  specific  conditions,  to  undermine  and  overthrow  sentiments 
and  institutions  they  solemnl)'  pledi^ed  themselves  to  uphold. 
And  he  has  read  \ery  superficially,  who  has  not  learned  that 
herosiarchs,  while  unchallenged,  easily  to  their  own  satisfaction 
reconcile  their  defections  from  the  old  paths  with  rectitude  ; 
particularly  if  their  interests  are  concerned.  Sometimes,  no 
doubt,  it  is  because  they  do  not  fairly  realize  how  far  they  have 
deflected  from  the  right  line  ;  but  oftener,  probably,  because 
self-opinion  stands  for  divine  illumination,  and  the}'  imagine 
they  ha\'e  been  elected  b}-  supernal  wisdom  to  pour  light  upon 
the  darkness  of  all  jireceding  .ages.  That  one's  con\'ictions 
run  counter  to  the  principles  or  practices  of  an  association  is  a 
very  good  reason  why  he  should  not  enter  or  should  lea\'e  it ; 
but  a  very  bad  reason  that  he  should  enter  or  remain  in  bad 
faith  to  subvert  what  he  is  appointed  to  defend.  Arminians  are 
apt  to  look  on!}-  on  their  side,  and  then  the  Synod  of  Dort  was 
an  unparalleled  atrocity,  and  its  theology  necessarily  unsound. 
So,  a  class  of  religionists  seem  to  see  on  the  long,  dark  page 
of  martyrology,  but  one  sentence:  "Calvin  burned  Servetus." 
That  easy  but  fal.se  formula,  they  would  have  us  think,  refutes 
Calvinism,  and  demonstrates  Socinianism.  Happily  a  brighter 
light  has  dawned  or  a  bet^ter  spirit  has  come  to  our  times — 
not*  we  would  hope  from  mere  laxness  of  conviction  but  a 
widening  of  intelligence  and  love — and  a  rigid  Calvinist  may 
now  believe,  without  incurring  the  penalty,  dc  hcvrctico  coiiibu- 
rcndo,  that  an  Arminian  can  be  saved. 

But  that  Synod  was  not  all  polemical  and  diabolical. 
Many  measures  were  adopted  for  the  advancement  of  practical 
religion,  having  no  connexion  with  controversy.  A  new 
translation  of  the  Bible  was  likewise  directed  :  a  work  begun 
on  the  order  of  the  States  by  S.  Aldegonde  as  early  as  1594, 
and  discontinued  at  his  death.     Six   eminent  scholars  were 


o 


6  Quarter- Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


appointed  as  translators,  and  six  substitutes,  in  case  of  the 
failure  of  the  translators,  of  whom  two  died  during  the  progress 
of  the  work.  A  company  of  final  revisers  was  also  appointed  ; 
all  most  approved  scholars.  The  translators  and  their  families 
were  collected  at  Leyden,  and  supported  at  the  public  expense  ; 
and  after  the  most  careful  elaboration,  the  work  was  finished 
and  printed  in  1637,  at  a  cost  to  the  States  General  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  pounds  sterling,  and  ordered  to  be  used  in  the 
churches.  The  translation  has  been  as  highly  prized  by  the 
Dutch,  as  our  English  version,  which  came  into  use  about 
the  same  time,  has  been  cherished  by  the  English  speaking 
race  ;  and  the  notes  and  comments  of  the  translators,  also  pub- 
lished, are  held  in  high  estimation  by  Biblical  scholars. 

I  may  be  excused  for  having  enlarged  upon  this  Synod, 
for  it  supplied  the  theological  life-blood  of  the  Dutch  church, 
which  yet  has  not  all  run  out. 

Although  the  advent,  of  the  colonists"  to  Manhattan  was 
in  those  troublous  times,  they  were  not  fugitives,  as  were  the 
Huguenots,  from  Popish,  or  the  Puritans  from  Protestant 
persecution.  They  belonged  to  the  ruling  party  in  the  Mother 
Country,  and  brought  with  them,  as  a  thing  of  course,  the 
established  church  order  and  the  Calvinistic  creed,  and  some- 
what perhaps  of  the  spirit  of  the  contra-remonstrants.  And 
that  creed,  symbolized  in  the  Heidelberg  Catcchisfn,  dido\ii&d 
at  a  Synod  of  Dort  as  early  as  1574,  and  re-affirmed  by  the 
celebrated  Synod  in  1619,  has  ever  prevailed  in  the  Dutch 
churches  in  this  country.  As  the  Synod  stamped  it.  with  the 
seal  of  orthodoxy,  the  immigrants  held  it  fast  as  living  truth  ; 
the  more  that  great  and  holy  men  had  so  strenuously  con- 
tended for  it  at  home.  This  will  account,  in  measure  at  least, 
for  the  steady  adherence  of  the  Dutch  church  among  ourselves 
to  its  doctrines  while  conceding  to  others  full  liberty  in  their 
own  communions.  Just  as  in  Holland  all  fugitives  found  a 
refuge ;  but  she  would  tolerate  no  faithlessness  in  her  own 
church. 

Wise  policy  as  well  as  just  principle  directed  the  West 
India  Company  to  supply  their  trading  posts  and  colonies  with 


Protestant  Reformed  Duteh  Ckureli.  37 


tlic  means  of  education  aiul  rclii;ion — and  such  proN'ision,  we 
arc  assurctl,  from  the  first  was  made  for  Manhattan.  We 
know  that  in  1 626  two  pious  school  masters  came  over  with 
Director  Minuet.  Their  duty,  besides  instructing;  the  \-outh  in 
secular  learninj^,  was  to  conduct  religious  services  on  the 
sabbath  da\',  by  reading  the  Scriptures,  the  creed  and  a 
sermon;  (much  like  the  deacons'  meetings  in  New  England); 
and  they  were  to  minister  to  the  sick  until  such  time  as  an 
ordained  minister  should  be  provided.  From  the  latter  duty 
they  were  called  "  Ziekcn-troostcrs"  i.  c.  Comforters  of  the 
sick.  Until  recently,  it  was  thought  that  the  first  ordained 
minister  was  the  Reverend  Everardus  Bogardus,  who  came 
with  Governor  W'outer  V'an  Twiller  in  1633  ;  and  that  he 
organized  the  church  in  that  year.  But  a  letter  discovered  by 
Mr.  Murphy  when  he  was  minister  at  the  Hague,  written  by 
the  Rev.  Jonas  ]\Iichaelius,  says,  he  "  arriv^ed  at  the  Island  of 
^lanhattan  the  i  ith  of  August,  1628;"  and  adds:  "we  first 
established  the  form  of  a  church;  and  it  has  been  thought 
best  to  choose  two  elders  for  my  assistance  ;  one  of  them  is 
the  Hon.  Director  himself  We  had  at  the  first  administration 
of  the  Lord's  supper  full  fifty  communicants — Walloons  and 
Dutch."  This  was  five  years  before  the  arrival  of  Dominie 
Bogardus;  and  fixes  the  origin  of  the  church -in  1628;  which 
date  will  make  the  Dutch,  the  oldest  organized  Protestant 
church  in  the  New  World.  At  least  I  am  not  aware  of  any 
earlier  regular  organized  body.  And  the  primitive  organiza- 
tion lives  in  the  collegiate  church — "  whose  were  the  fathers" — 
which  retains  the  title  ;  the  charter  ;  the  unbroken  succession  of 
the  ministry  and  consistory ;  the  records  from  the  beginning; 
and  the  property  from  time  to  time  bequeathed  to  the 
"  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church  of  the  City  of  New  York  " 
— at  least  so  much  as  remains.  Of  these  funds  a  liberal  u.se 
has  always  been  made  by  the  consistory  for  the  benefit  of 
other  churches  and  for  objects  of  general  utility  to  the  denomi- 
nation. I  think  I  am  justified  in  .saying  that,  excepting  for 
th_'  building  of  their  church  edifices,  a  very  liberal  proportion, 
compared  with  their  own  expenditures,  has  been  thus  di.spensed 


38  Quarter- Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 

in  past  times  to  their  brethren.  Whether  such  aid  does  not  often 
injure,  by  impairing  the  feehng  of  self-rehance,  is  a  serious  doubt. 

The  ruhng  power  of  each  Dutch  church  is  in  the  consist- 
ory— for  it  is  Presbyterian  and  representative,  and  not  Con- 
gregational. The  ministers,  elders  and  deacons,  compose  the 
consistory :  the  minister,  according  to  apostolical  commission, 
to  preach,  administer  ordinances  and  exercise  the  pastoral 
supervision  ;  the  elders  to  assist  him  in  spiritual  matters,  but 
not  to  preach  or  administer  the  sacraments ;  the  deacons,  as 
at  the  first,  to  attend  to  the  poor  and  serve  tables.  Thus  we 
see  in  each  church  a  regular  order.  From  the  letter  of 
Michaelius  we  learn  that  he  ordained  two  elders.  Necessarily 
that  organization  was  imperfect.  But  as  the  church  grew  in 
numbers,  it  at  length  assumed  its  normal  form  of  consistories, 
classes,  particular  and  general  Synods — a  complete  system  for 
the  denomination — and  thus  it  is  at  present  constituted.  Ac- 
cording to  the  ancient  rules,  to  the  consistories  pertained  the 
control  of  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  matters,  as  now  in 
most  of  our  churches.  But  several  years  ago,  in  courtesy  to 
the  popular  craving  for  a  share  of  whatever  office  or  power 
may  exist,  authority  was  granted  by  legislative  enactments  in 
this  State,  to  commit  the  temporalities  to  a  Board  of  Trustees, 
elected  by  the  pew-holders.  This  practice  'has  been  adopted 
in  s'ome  of  our  churches,  but  is  by  no  means  generally  accepted. 
A  peculiarity  of  Dutch,  as  compared  with  Scotch  or  Irish 
Presbyterianism,  is  the  rotation  of  the  lay  members  of  con- 
sistory. Their  election  for  two  years,  instead  of .  for  life, 
although  eligible  to  re-election,  is  thought  to  possess  these 
advantages  :  that  a  larger  number  of  the  male  members  may 
become  interested  in  the  affairs  of  their  church,  and  thus  a 
Board  of  Trustees  is  superfluous  ;  and  also,  that  a  troublesome 
or  unqualified  member  may  be  quietly  dropped — a  great  bless- 
ing often  to  pastors,  consistories  and  people. 

Our  church,  both  here  and  in  the  Mother  Country,  has 
always  demanded  an  educated  ministry,  and  has  shown  no 
inclination  to  be  long  satisfied  with  sound  for  substance, 
ranting  for  reason,  or  professions  for  piety.     The  first  preachers 


Pnytcstant  Rcforuicd  Dutch  Cluinh.  39 


were  men  of  solid  parts,  iir.l)uccl  with  tlic  excellent  learning 
that  at  that  day  abounded  in  Holland.  It  was  long  the 
custom  and  for  a  time  a  necessity  for  the  churches  in  the 
colony,  not  only  to  obtain  their  ministers  from  the  Mother 
Country,  but,  also,  to  send  thither  young  men  of  promise, 
desiring  the  ministry,  to  be  educated  and  ordained.  Utrecht 
and  Leyden  received  such  from  all  parts.  Alas  !  how  changed  ! 
Three  years  ago,  when  at  Leyden,  a  learned  professor  informed 
me  that  of  the  800  students,  but  eight  were  pursuing  theology. 
And.  with  a  meaning  glance,  he  was  at  the  pains  to  tell  me 
that  the  theologues  were  the  stoutest  Darwinians  in  the 
University.  If  so,  the  fewer  their  numbers  the  better.  At 
Utrecht  there  were  somewhat  more.  Heidelberg  had  about 
the  same  small  number.  And  from  good  autliorit)'  I  learned 
that  reverence  for  the  inspired  word  was  much  diminished  by 
the  influence  of  modern  ideas,  called  science,  and  that  personal 
religion  .seemed  at  a  low  ebb.  Dr.  Livingston  settled  here  in 
1770,  more  than  150  years  after  Manhattan  was  founded, 
having  spent  four  years  at  Utrecht,  in  preparation  for  his 
work.  He  was  one  of  the  last,  or  the  last,  so  educated,  and 
brought  the  Holland 'inode  of  j^reaching  by  logical,  orderly, 
but,  perhaps,  too  precise  and  numerous  divisions  ;  and  when 
made  professor  at  New  Brunswick,  he  used  the  Holland  style 
of  theological  tuition — the  much  spoken  of  "  Classis  argu- 
mcHtoruin  ;  "  systematic,  thorough  as  far  as  it  went ;  dry  as  a 
bone,  but  really  teaching  theology,  and  vastly  to  be  preferred 
to  a  hap-liazard  method  that  teaches  nothing.  The  Dutch 
descent  and  Dutch  training  of  Dr.  Livingston,  no  doubt, 
conduced  v^ery  largely  to  his  popularity  among  his  people. 
He  occasionally  preached  in  that  language  for  the  comfort  of 
some  of  the  aged  ;  but  Dr.  Kuypers  was  the  last  who  did 
so.  .  The  connexion  of  New  Amsterdam,  as  it  was  then 
named,  with  Holland,  had  much  relaxed  after  it  passed  under 
English  sway  in  1664  and  became  New  York.  Many  returned 
home  and  few  came.  Intercourse  was  much  with  ICngland  ; 
little  with  Holland.  The  colony  was  estranged,  though  not 
alienated.     And  while   at   the    transfer,  all   the   rights    of  the 


40  Quarter-Millennial  Annivei'sary  of  the 


Dutch  church  were  secured  by  treaty,  and  the  language 
continued  in  use  in  social  life  and  in  religious  services,  yet 
English  being  that  of  the  ruling  class,  of  course,  encroached 
upon  and  gradually  supplanted  the  Dutch.  Hence,  arose  the 
strife,  chiefly  between  the  young  and  the  old  people,  in  regard 
to  a  change  to  English  preaching  ;  which,  when  yielded  and 
determined  by  the  calling  of  Dr.  Laidley  in  1764,  just  one 
hundred  years  from  the  English  occupation,  sent  off  a  large 
portion  of  the  opponents  of  English  preaching  with  true  Dutch 
spunk  and  admirable  consistency  to  the  English  church. 
In  like  manner,  the  foreign  education  of  the  ministry  and  de- 
pendence of  the  churches  upon  the  classis  of  Amsterdam,  led 
to  the  Ccvtns  and  Co)ifcrentie  controversy,  which  resulted  in  the 
final  independence  of  the  American  churches  and  ministry,  and 
in  the  establishment  of  our  own  Classes,  and  of  the  Institution  at 
New  Brunswick.  It  was  not  strange  that  the  Dutch  language 
and  customs  declined :  rather  it  was  perfectly  characteristic 
and  highly  creditable  to  the  steady  people,  that  their  attach- 
ment to  Holland,  its  language  and  whatever  was  Dutch  should 
have  lingered  among  them  so  long,  under  such  adverse  cir- 
cumstances. Yet,  natural  as  it  was,  no  one  can  now  doubt, 
that  the  pertinacity  it  assumed  at  several  junctures,  was  injur- 
ious to  the  church;  as  there  can  be  as  little  doubt  that  a  too 
facile  yielding  to  innovations  in  more  recent  times,  ha,s  been 
equally  disastrous. 

The  pastors  of  the  Collegiate  church  have  always  been  on 
an  equality,  excepting  the  deference  which  christian  and  gen- 
tlemanly courtesy  has  yielded  to  the  senior.  Until  quite  lately 
they  performed  in  rotation  the  same  services  in  all  the 
churches.  They  wore,  and  continue  to  wear,  the  Geneva  gown 
and  bands,  in  which  costume  they  were  accustomed  to  walk 
from  their  dwellings  to  the  church  on  the  sabbath-day.  As 
that  practice  might  now  be  thought  to"  savor  of  ostentation,  it 
is  discontinued,  and  the  ministers  are  robed  in  the  vestry. 
With  the  portraits  of  the  ministers  the  walls  of  the  consistory 
chamber  are  adorned ;  I  say  adorned ;  for  really  they  form  a  come- 
ly and  intellectual-featured  gallery,  not  speaking  of  the  living. 


ProfrsfdHt  Reformed  Jhitc/i  C/iiiir/i.  41 

The  public  worship  was  ai'ranL;cci  of  course  in  conformity 
with  that  of  the  mother  church.  The  order  became  a  part  of 
the  constitution,  and  was  made  obH^atory,  so  as  to  secure  a 
proper  uniformity  throuj^hout  the  denomination,  and  was  not 
left  to  the  taste,  or  want  of  taste,  or  caprice  of  in(h'\  ickial 
ministers  or  congrei^ations,  which  destroys  the  similitude  of 
the  ser\"ice  and  ensures  cUsorder.  There  was  sufficient  form  to 
engay^e  rexerential  attention  and  not  allow  relis^ion  to  be 
stripped  bare ;  yet  there  was  not  so  much  formality  that  it  be- 
came perfunctory  and  exhausted  devotion  in  rites  and  ceremo- 
nies. The  psalmody  was  also  fixed  by  law.  In  church  the 
elders  sat  in  the  pew  on  the  right,  the  deacons  on  the  left  of  the 
pulpit.  At  the  close  of  the  service,  when  the  minister  descended, 
they  stood  to  receive  him,  and  each  gave  the  right  hand  of  fel- 
lowship and  approval.  The  clerk,  in  his  desk  beneath  the  pulpit, 
opened  the  morning  service  by  reading  the  commandments 
and  announcing  the  psalm  to  be  sung,  when  the  organ  pealed 
forth  and  the  whole  congregation  united  in  praise.  And  never, 
I  think,  in  Spurgeon's  tabernacle  in  London,  nor  in  the  great 
churches  in  Holland,  have  I  heard  such  impressive  congrega- 
tional singing  as  when  Mr.  Earle  led  and  the  vast  assemblage 
joined  in  the  old  Middle  Church,  or  Mr.  Sage  in  the  North. 
While  singing  the  minister  entered,  stood  for  a  few  moments 
reverently  at  the  foot  of  the  pulpit  stairs  in  silent  prayer,  his 
back  to  the  people,  ascended  the  pulpit  and  conducted  the  ser- 
vice. Preceding  the  second,  or  long  prayer  as  it  is  some- 
times termed,  came  the  salutation,  reading  the  S.  S.  and 
the  "exordium  reniotuni " — an  address  having,  as  the  name 
expressed,  a  remote,  and  often  a  very  remote,  bearing  on  the 
subject  of  the  sermon.  In  the  old  churches  tablets  were  hung 
upon    the   walls,  indicating  the   psalm   to   be   read  or  sung.* 


*Over  the  pulpit,  in  the  Noilh  Church,  lumg  the  Harpendinck  coat  of  arms,  as 
it  was  thought  to  be  ;  but  perhaps,  as  Dr.  DeVVitt  reasonably  thinks,  a  memorial, 
placed  there  by  the  Consistory,  in  remembrance  of  the  donation  of  his  farm  to  the 
Consistory — a  large  tract  of  land,  then  a  pasturage,  now  occupied  by  stores — from 
which  has  come  the  most  of  the  property  of  the  Collegiate  Church.  The  motto 
would  seem  to  confirm  this  idea  :    ''Dando  Conservat  "  —  "by  giving,  he  keeps." 


42  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


This  was  the  order  still  observed  in  my  youth  in  the  old  Mid- 
dle and  North  Churches,  so  that  when  in  Holland,  although  I 
understood  nothing  of  the  language,  the  service  was  not 
strange.  And  at  Haarlem  the  crowd  that  collected  at  the 
cathedral  evening  service  brought  vividly  to  my  mind  the  great 
congregation  which,  on  sabbath  evenings,  used  to  fill  the  old 
Middle  Church  with  people  gathered  from  the  various 
churches  around. 

On  baptismal  and  communion  occasions  the  entire  forms 
were  always  read.  The  mother  presented  the  child ;  and  at  the 
Lord's  Supper  the  participants  sat  at  tables  spread  through  the 
aisles,  filled  frequently  three  or  four  times ;  and  as  addresses 
were  made  at  each  table  the  service  was  often  greatly  protracted. 
It  was  also  the  usage  of  the  Dutch  church  to  observe  the  days 
of  special  religious  memorial :  as  Christmas,  Easier,  and  those 
commonly  observed  by  the  Protestant  communities  in  Europe. 
Nor  did  they  feel  that  by  thus  emphasizing-  the  great  facts  of 
Christianity  they  were  guilty  of  any  obsequious  and  irreligious 
imitation  of  mystic  Babylon. 

From  the  first  it  was  required  of  the  ministers  that  on  the 
Lord's  day  afternoon  they  should  expound  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism  ;  going  through  it  once  every  'year.  In  time  this 
custom  naturally  became  repetitious  and  formal,  and  lost  very 
much  of  its  interest  with  the  people  ;  and  a  change  was  or- 
dained by  constitutional  authority.  When  the  old  Middle 
Church  was  being  dismantled  and  converted  into  a  post-office, 
Dr.  Knox,  of  sacred  and  beloved  mernbry,  and  I,  there  met 
good  Dr.  Milner.  As  we  stood  in  the  pulpit,  looking  on  the 
ruin,  and  recalling  the  days  of  old,  the  years  of  many  genera- 
tions of  worshippers  in  the  venerable  edifice.  Dr.  Milner  said : 
"  do  you  keep  up  the  custom  of  preaching  on  the  catechism 
every  Sunday  afternoon?  "  "  No,  Sir;"  replied  Dr.  Knox,  in 
his  mild  tone;  "it  has  been  directed  that  we  shall  go  through 
it  once  in  four  years  instead  of  one."  "  That  is,"  retorted  Dr. 
'Milner  very  pleasantly,  "you  are  obliged  to  make  it  four  times 
as  tedious  as  before."  Yet  while  the  pleasantry  was  relished, 
and  the  former  custom  might  have  been  irksome  and  a  change 


Pro(csta)it  Rcfonncd  Diik/i  Church.  43 

niiL;ht  h.u'c  become  clesiral)le,  it  seems  a  simple  dictate  of  rea- 
son and  prudence,"  that  some  methotl  shoukl  lie  adopted  in  all 
churches  by  which  the  people  may  receive  distinct  and  sj-stem- 
atic  instruction  in  tlie  evidences  and  articles  of  their  faith. 
Never,  probably,  was  careful  elementary  exposition,  and  a 
clear  unfolding  of  doctrine,  more  imperative  than  in  what  is 
proudl)'  called  our  enlightened  age  ;  when  multiform  specu- 
lations of  strange  import  are  thrust  u[)on  the  attention  of 
the  people ;  \\  hen  preaching  on  taking  tliemes  awkS.  in  the 
treatment  of  subjects,  seems  to  aim  often  at  novelty  to  amuse  or 
startle,  rather  than  substance  to  instruct ;  and  when  vagueness 
of  conception  exists  painfull)'  in  the  common  mind  in  regard, 
often,  to  some  of  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God. 
The  consequence  to  be  feared  is,  that  many  being  less  rooted 
and  grounded  in  principles  than  those  of  former  times,  and 
being  unfurnished  with  the  armor  of  God,  unguarded  by 
the  panoply  of  an  intelligent  conception  of  christian  doctrine, 
will  not  readily  detect  the  specious  falsehood  and  may  fall 
into  pernicious  errors.  It  is  said,  philosophically,  that  re- 
ligion is  first  intuitional  and  emotional  ;  and  after  it  so  exist.s, 
it  is  formulated  into  a  system  and  becomes  theology.  The 
scholar  ma\-  thus  theorize  if  he  please.  But,  practically, 
Christianity  exists  in  the  great  facts  of  the  Bible  alone,  which 
are  its  doctrines,  its  principles  of  belief  and  practice.  And 
personal  Christianity  does  not  first  develop  itself  from  some 
vague  sentiment  of  natural  v^eneration ;  it  is  not  a  deposit 
from  our  own  reasonings,  which  crystalize  into  christian 
conviction  ;  but  so  far  as  it  is  christian  experience,  its  very 
essence  is  specific  truth  revealed  in  the  Bible,  received  into 
good  and  honest  hearts,  qnd  lived  in  the  life.  And  for  this 
end,  instruction  in  the  articles  of  faith  is  necessary.  Any 
other'religiousness  will  prove  evanescent,  unreliable,  dangerous. 
The  intuitional  and  emotional  must  flow  from  the  Word  and 
keep  close  to  it,  or  it  becomes  wild  fire;  the  mother  of  "all 
monstrous,  all  prodigious  things,"  under  the  name  of  religion, 
it  may  be,  but  without  "  fruit  unto  life  eternal."  Christians 
are  those  who  believe   in   Chri.st  as    He   is  set   forth    in   the 


44  Quarter- Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 

Gospel.  And  they  should  be  so  instructed  as  to  "  give  a 
reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  them,"  because  it  is  a  most 
reasonable  thing.  Hence,  in  pastoral  work,  the  importance 
of  doctrinal  preaching.  ''Go!  teach!''  reads  the  great  com- 
mission :  teach  those  distinctive  principles,  doctrines  which 
are  the  sinews  and  strength  of  the  christian  revelation.  Thus 
will  the  church  become  "  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth." 
But,  indeed,  it  is  not  our  catechisms,  which  are  now  dis- 
credited, but  our  very  Bibles.  Instead  of,  "  In  the  beginning 
God:"  the  philosopher  now  reads  ;  In  the  beginning,  "  the 
potentialities  of  physical  forces."  Physical  science  leads  the 
age ;  and  it  is  very  much  in  the  hands  of  men  manifestly 
without  religious  sympathies  inclining  them'  "to  look  through 
nature  up  to  nature's  God ;"  or  men  avowedly  or  covertly  hostile 
to  Christianity.  It  is  pure,  cold,  materialism ;  anti-superna- 
tural ;  anti-spiritual  ;  for  a  large  part  blank  atheism.  Yet  are 
their  speculations  no  novelties.  The  universe  came,  say  they, 
and  was  not  created.  It  fell  into  beautiful,  grand,  exquisite 
forms  and  adaptations,  by  accident,  and  not  by  intelligent 
design.  And,  mind,  the  most  wonde'rful  existence  of  all, 
evolved  itself  out  of  inert,  senseless  matter ;  and  at  the  moment 
of  its  appearance  was  as  marvellously  endowed  in  the  first 
man  as  now,  and  this  miraculous  power  of  evolution  ended  and 
died.  -Thus  the  Bible  ;  our  spiritual  and  immortal  being  ;  moral 
distinctions  ;  God,  heaven,  hell,  are  swept  away  as  without 
authority  or  utility ;  and  in  a  very  literal  and  appalling  sense, 
this  philosophy  proclaims  over  the  departing :  "  Dust .  thou 
art  and  unto  dust  thou  shalt  forever  return."  Even  where 
such  an  extreme  of  atheism  is  not  reached,-  this  same  un- 
believing spirit  cavils  at  the  plain  interpretation  and  authority 
of  the  Bible.  It  is,  says  the  Judas  critic,  a  good  book  in 
many  respects,  but  is  not  in  any  special  sense  inspired  and 
infallible.  Science  discredits  many  of  its  representations.  It 
no  longer  satisfies  the  reason  of  the  age.  And  the  histoiy 
and  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  those  of  His  Apostles,  must 
be  received,  explained  or  rejected,  as  our  new  light  may 
decide.     All   idea,  however,  that  the  book  had  a  special,  su- 


Protestant  Refonncd  Dutch  Church.  45 


pcriiatural  orii^in,  was,  in  a  strict  sense,  a  dircctl)^  inspired  gift 
of  God,  more  than  many  other  writings,  is  absurd.  And  you, 
theologians  and  Christians,  had  better  take  the  kindly  warning 
and  not  make  yourselves  ridiculous  by  insisting  upon  "  old 
wives'  fables."  But,  again,  this  boasting  is  not  new.  So 
Porphyry  and  Cclsus  proclaimed  the  ov^erthrow  of  Christianit)^ 
in  primitive  times.  So  s[)ake  the  Deists  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  and  so  the  French  encyclopedists.  And, 
all,  singularly  enough,  with  the  same  assumption  and  arro- 
gance, and  scorn  of  christian  faith,  which  has  ever  puffed  up 
the  infidel  objector,  as  if  his  cause  were  alread)'  triumphant 
and  Christianity  put  to  rout.  Yet  it  has  survived,  and  they 
and  their  works  caused  no  real  impediment  to  its  progress. 
It  lives  ;  its  power  over  the  soul  is  unabridged ;  it  is  cherished 
by  growing  numbers  ;  but  where  are  they  and  their  confident 
predictions  of  its  downfall  ?  Not  an  outpost  has  been  fairly 
carried,  and  the  citadel  yet  stands  impregnable  and  defiant. 
The  truth  is,  there  exists  in  the  human  soul,  implanted  by  its 
Maker,  a  conviction  of  the  supernatural,  and  of  immortality 
and  retribution,  which  the  pride  of  philosophy  may  silence  in 
a  few,  but  which,  in  the  mass  of  human  kind,  not  all  the  phi- 
losophy on  earth  can  extinguish.  And  also  of  all  the  religions 
which  have  appeared,  (and  religion  in  some  form  man  cannot  do 
without),  of  all  these  it  is  felt  that  Christianity  alone  fully  meets 
the  case.  It  rests  upon  its  own  proper  evidence,  both  external 
and  within,  and  is  realized  to  be  reasonable,  elevating,  satisfying, 
sufficient.  His  Bible  teaches  the  humble  believer  a  more 
sensible  cosmogony  than  theirs ;  his  catechism  unfolds  sublimer 
truths  :  to  them  his  best  reason  assents,  and  scorns  the  other. 
To  his  Bible,  the  catechism  of  his  youth,  the  faith  of  his  fathers, 
a  divine  Redeemer  and  immortal  hope  through  Him,  he 
cleaves,  against  all  the  wisdom  of  the  wise — which  is  foolishness 
with  God.  And  the  best  way  to  foil  the  unbeliever  and  confirm 
the  faithful  is  to  keep  before  the  people  the  direct  proofs  and 
doctrines  of  the  Bible;  at  proper  times  even  by  simple  catecheti- 
cal rehearsal.  Hence,  the  wisdom  of  the  church  in  making 
some  authorit^ive  provision  for  this  end. — The  practice  of  thus 


46  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


keeping  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Bible  prominent  will  also 
^erve  to  correct  another  tendency  of  the  times,  which  is  to 
reduce  religion  to  a  mere  philanthropy,  and  of  course  to  con- 
fine its  range  very  much  to  this  world  and  physical  wants, 
rather  than  to  give  it  its  true  scope,  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul 
and  the  life  eternal.  There  is  indeed  much  suffering  and  sorrow 
which  demand  tender  sympathy  and  aid,  but  which  no  human 
power  can  remove,  and  which  the  spiritual  power  of  the  Bible 
alone  enables  men  to  support  with  hopeful  submission.  And 
those  influences  will  ever  prevent  the  rebellious  suicide  from 
seeking  relief  by  breaking  feloniously  into  the  sacred  house  of 
life.  Poverty  and  vice,  and  degradation  there  are.  But  they 
are  not  to  be  expelled  by  closing  your  Bibles,  your  churches, 
your  missions,  and  sabbath  schools,  and  scattering  the  wealth 
of  the  industrious  and  skillful  among  the  idle  or  vicious. 
These  evils  will  always  exist,  but  the  only  assuaging  emollient, 
the  only  panacea,  is  the  elevating  power  -of  Christianity,  as  is 
seen  by  comparing  communities  where  it  operates  with  those 
from  which  it  is  absent.  True  religion  evermore  brings  forth 
the  purest  and  most  sustained  philanthropy ;  but  philantropy 
is  not  all  of  religion. 

I  have  pointed  out  our  ecclesiastical  origin  in  the  established 
church  of  Holland.  For  forty  years,  the  Collegiate  was  the 
only  church  in  New  Amsterdam.  At  first,  1626,  they  wor- 
shipped in  a  large  upper  room  over  a  horse-mill,  which  was 
their  house  of  prayer  for  seven  years.  In  1633,  at  the  in- 
stigation of  Dominie  Bogardus,  a  wooden  building  was  put 
up  near  what  is  now  the  Old  Slip  ;  where  they  continued  to 
worship  until  1642,  when  a  new  stone  edijice  was  erected  in 
the  fort,  at  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Battery,  and  this  they 
occupied  for  fifty  years,  until  1693,  when  Garden  Street  was 
opened — although  the  location  had  been  seriously  opposed  as 
being  too  far  out  of  town — which  objection  has  also  been 
urged  at  the  erection  of  each  successive  new  church  edifice. 
Until  the  erection  of  Garden  Street,  the  rights  of  the  church 
and  its  property  had  been  held  by  general  laws.  But  in 
1696,  a  regular  charter  was  obtained  from  the  Dutch  William, 


Protestant  RcfoDiicd  DittcJi  Chiin/i.  47 

a  year  or  two  before  that  of  Trinity.  And  the  names  of  the 
consistory  chartered  are  some  Dutch,  some  Hui,Hienot,  still 
found  among  us.  In  1729,  the  Old  Middle,  on  Cedar  and 
Liberty  Streets,  long  called  the  New  Dutch,  and  since  the 
Post  Office,  was  dedicated.  And  in  1769,  the  North,  corner 
of  William  and  Fulton,  then  in  the  fields.  Dr.  Laidlie 
preached  the  dedication  sermon,  and  English  preaching  was 
fully  established.  The  old  church  in  the  fort  was  named  St. 
Nicholas,  the  name  of  the  Dutch  tutelary  saint,  not  yet 
forgotten  among  those  of  the  true  lineage.  It  has  not  been 
in  ni)-  plan,  however,  to  relate  the  details  of  church  erections, 
the  lives  of  the  pastors,  or  minute  incidents,  occurring  through 
the  long  history  of  our  ecclesiastical  existence.  That  work 
has  been  done  by  several  hands.  Much  information  will  be 
found  in  Broadhead's  History  of  New  York ;  in  Dunshee's 
History  of  the  Seliool ;  in  Judge  Disosway's  volume  on  The 
Early  Churches  of  Nezv  York ;  and  in  the  sermon  of  my  late 
revered  colleague.  Dr.  DeWitt,  preached  at  the  re-opening  of 
the  North  Church,  in  August,  1856.  This  last  is  so  thorough, 
as  well  as  authentic  in  its  gatherings,  that  scarce  a  few  stray 
sheafs  remain  wherewith  a  gleaner  may  fill  his  bosom. 

With  the  increase  of  trade,  and  for  agricultural  objects,  the 
colony  spread  over  Manhattan,  to  Brooklyn,  up  the  river,  and 
into  New  Jersey  ;  and  missions  among  the  Aborigines  were 
also  established.  It  has  been  claimed  that  the  first  Dutch 
Church  was  at  Fort  Nassau  or  Orange,  now  Albany.  The 
history  of  that  ancient  church  is  very  interesting ;  but  the 
claim  to  priority  is,  I  think,  without  historical  foundation.  It 
shows,  however,  that  with  the  Dutch  immigrants,  religion 
went  hand-in-hand  with  commerce.  In  process  of  time,  after 
1664,  as  the  colony  grew,  other  types  of  worship  appeared. 
But  it*  should  be  noticed  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
Portuguese  Jews  who  fled  to  Holland  and  came  here  for  traffic  : 
and  \\ith  the  exception  of  the  Catholics  in  Maryland,  and 
also  some  Spanish  Catholic  settlements  in  the  extreme  South, 
the  whole  of  eastern  North  America,  now  included  in  the 
United    States,  _was    discovered    and    settled   by   Protestants. 


48  Quarter-Millennial  Atmiversary  of  tJie 

And  it  will  remain  theirs  so  long,  but  only  so  long,  as  they 
are  faithful  to  the  trust  of  civil  and  religious  freedom, 
extorted  from  persecuting  powers,  and  confirmed  to  them  as 
by  the  last  will  and  testament  of  the  martyrs  of  the  cross  : 
by  "the  church  under  the  cross,"  as  that  of  the  early  Dutch 
Protestants  was  significantly  named. — In  consonance  with  the 
example  of  the  mother  church,  ours  has  always  displayed  a 
catholic  spirit  in  its  intercourse  with  its  neighbors  :  a  spirit  by 
no  means  incompatible  with  its  love  for  its  own  fold.  When 
the  English  took  possession,  the  chaplain  of  their  forces  held 
service  by  invitation  in  the  church  at  the  Fort,  as  also  did  Mr. 
Vesey,  the  first  rector.  When  Garden  Street  was  opened  the 
consistory  invited  him  to  occupy  it  part  of  the  day.  When 
he  was  inducted  into  the  rectorship  of  Trinity,  the  English 
Governor  named  two  of  the  Dutch  ministers  to  represent  the 
body.  On  several  occasions  the  consistory  has  very  cordially 
invited  our  Episcopal  brethren  to  use  our  church  edifices  : 
and  the  Episcopal  ministers  of  the  olden  time  on  Sabbath 
evenings  attended  the  Dutch  church  and  sat  in  the  elders'  pew, 
as  was  the  custom  with  our  own  ministers.  Thus  was  the 
good  will  expressed,  that  long  united  England  and  Holland 
in  ties  of  mutual  advantage  and  confidence;  which  was  broken 
from  commercial  rivalry  by  Cromwell  and  the  witty  and 
vile.  Charles  II,  but  which  was  resumed  when  William  of 
Orange  drov^e  out  the  Stuarts  and  bestowed  constitutional 
liberty  on  England  and  on  America.  It  has  been  remarked 
that  social  considerations  greatly  influence  the  church  re- 
lations of  individuals.  And  between  the  Dutch  and  Epis- 
copalians early  intermarriages  and  the  intimate  social  in- 
tercourse they  produced,  established  a  very  fraternal  feeling, 
which  embraced  the  churches,  and  which  has  not  yet  been 
lost  among  their  descendants.  Indeed,  I  believe  the  original 
Dutch  families  are  now  more  numerously  represented  in  that 
body  than  in  our  own.  In  like  manner  a  cordial,  friendly 
feeling  and  ready  co-operation  in  good  works  with  brethren  of 
other  evangelical  denominations  have  always  prevailed  in  the 
Dutch  Church.    Yet  her  spirit  was  conservative ;  in  doctrine  ad- 


Rcfoniicd  Protestant  Dutch  Chnn/i.  49 


hering  to  the  Cal\-inisni  originall}-  professed  ;  equally  removed 
from  Antinomianism  on  one  side  and  Arminianism  on  the 
other;  and  in  practice  inculcating  not  a  dogmatical  and 
formal,  but  spiritual,  active  piety ;  believing  in  true  revivals,  but 
opposing  the  dreams  of  dreamers  and  the  machinery  and  ex- 
cesses of  fanaticism.  She  has  been  less  determined  than  per- 
haps she  should  have  been  to  "enlarge  the  place  of  her  tents 
and  stretch  abroad  the  curtains  of  her  habitations;"  and  does 
not  at  this  day  occupy  so  wide  a  space  as  early  advantages 
promised,  and  as  might  well  be  desired.  But  this  fact  is  by 
no  means  to  be  attributed  to  her  creed  or  her  forms.  Many 
adverse  causes  have  been  in  operation.  Naturally  the  Dutch 
are  not  aggressive ;  yet  they  have  found  on  their  borders  some 
of  the  most  aggressive  and  self-reliant  people  on  the  face  ot 
the  globe,  who,  in  settling  the  New  World,  have  far  outstripped 
them.  Again,  the  persistent  use  of  the  Dutch  language  was 
very  detrimental.  The  changes  also,  authorized  many  years 
ago  when  a  new  constitution  was  adopted,  introduced  the  idea 
that  she  needed  greater  assimilation  to  surrounding  forms,  to 
make  her  more  popular  and  give  her  better  vantage  ground ; 
and  that  idea,  entirely  erroneous  as  it  has  appeared  to  me,  has 
brought  forth  a  brood  of  innovations,  not  for  her  own  internal 
good,  nor  for  the  good  she  was  doing  and  was  qualified  to  do 
in  the  general  Protestant  family  and  the  community  at  large. 
The  Dutch  Church  had,  by  inheritance,  a  name,  a  history,  an 
open  Bible,  a  Protestant  faith,  an  earnestness  of  spiritual  life, 
which  gave  her  the  affection  and  respect  of  all  the  Reformed. 
Her  worship  was  orderly  and  devout;  her  customs  and  usages 
consonant  with  propriety  and  good  taste,  and  were  endeared 
to  her  people  by  the  tender  and  sacred  associations  of  childhood 
and  antiquity.  The  Collegiate  Church  had  its  own  high  position 
in  the  city  as  the  Collegiate  Dutch  Church.  And  all  voices  of 
the  past  and  reasonings  toward  the  future  seemed  to  admonish 
her  with  concurrent  emphasis,  to  stand  on  the  old  paths  and  re- 
buke novelists,  and  admit  only  such  changes  as  the  change  of 
conditions  rendered  manifestly  imperative.  A  heedless  digging 
at  the  roots  of  an  ancient  oak  may  strike  and  sever  those  fine 


50  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  tJie 

fibers  that  run  far  down  into  the  soil  and  give  it  its  nutriment,  its 
leafy  glories,  its  fruit,  its  long  life,  and  hold  it  upright  and 
steady  in  its  place.  And  then  a  slight  wind  may  shake  and  lay 
low  the  pride  of  the  forest.  Yet  the  old  church  is  not  over^ 
thrown.  Vital  power  and  large  resources  she  has,  and  wisely 
directed  they  will  keep  her  in  her  proper  position  of  eminence 
and  usefulness.  "As  a  teil  tree  and  as  an  oak  whose  substance 
is  (yet)  in  them  when  they  cast  their  leaves,  so  the  holy 
seed  is  the  substance  thereof" 

The  completion  of  one-quarter  of  a  thousand  years  brings 
out  an  interesting  review.  The  church  of  the  horse-mill  has 
been  succeeded  by  nine  church  erections,  most  of  them  large 
and  imposing  structures.  Twenty-eight  pastors  have  officiated 
in  the  pulpits — five  of  them  still  living.  Devout  men  and 
women  in  large  numbers  have  filled  the  seats,  formerly  in  not 
a  few  instances,  the  same  pew  being  occupied  by  several  gen- 
erations. Nearly  twenty-seven  thousand  children  have  re- 
ceived baptism.  The  fifty  "Walloons  and  Dutch,"  who 
partook  of  the  first  Lord's  Supper  in  that  upper  loft,  have 
increased  to  nearly  eleven  thousand  communicants.  And  of 
the  funds,  nearly  $400,000  have  been  given  to  other  churches 
and  ministers,  chiefly  within  the  present  century.  Besides 
the  direct  blessings  in  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  in  the 
pure  lives,  and  happy,  hopeful  deaths  of  the  many  pious  wor- 
shippers, who  can  compute  the  indirect  influences  exerted  by 
such  an  institution  upon  the  morals,  the  peace  and  prosperity 
of  the  community?  Eternity  alone  can  unroll  the  record. 
Would  that  this  memorable  day  might  be  to  us  as  that  day 
when  the  reading  of  the  long  forgotten  -law  aroused  Israel 
to  remember  God's  dealings  with  their  fathers,  and  to  covenant 
anew  to  walk  in  his  statutes,  and  observe  his  ordinances  to 
keep  them.  Then  should  our  altars  glow  with  fresh  flames, 
and  our  churches  anew  would  be  filled  with  the  divnne  presence 
and  glory. 

I  place  myself  in  imagination  upon  the  tongue  of  Manhattan 
Island,  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  All  nature  is  clothed 
in  the  garments  it  wore  at  the  creation.    The  rivers  roll  quietly 


Refonned  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  5  i 

on,  aiul  the  beautiful  bay  spreads  out  its  waters  unruttlcd, 
exceptiiiLj  as  the  canrte  of  the  Indian  shoots  across  its  bosom. 
But  gradually  the  scene  changes.  The  city  rises  to  view  and 
grows,  until  it  becomes  the  largest  of  the  Western  World,  the 
great  heart  of  the  continent,  sending  the  strong  pulsations  of 
intellectual,  commercial,  political,  social,  religious  life,  to  the 
remotest  extremities.  North  and  South  and  East  and  West, 
the  vast  wildernesses  have  been  cleared  away.  In  place  of 
sparse  tribes,  who  made  the  forests  their  hunting  grounds, 
and  the  .streams  their  fisheries,  appear  myriads  of  the  most 
intelligent  and  enterprising  people  in  the  world ;  hamlets  have 
given  place  to  populous  cities,  the  wigwam  to  the  palace, 
adorned  with  all  that  wealth  can  buy,  or  taste  can  create. 
Instead  of  the  whoop  of  the  savage  that  scared  the  solitude, 
the  roar  of  machinery  and  the  bustle  of  untiring  industry 
animates  the  ri\-ers,  the  great  lakes,  the  plains ;  and  now,  by 
modern  inventions,  time  and  space  seem  annihilated,  and  the 
North  speaks  to  the  South,  a'nd  the  voices  on  the  Atlantic  are 
echoed  from  the  Pacific  shores.  The  colonies  have  pas.sed 
into  the  greatest  Republic  the  world  has  known,  which  is  felt 
to  be  a  power  among  nations,  an  essential  factor  in  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  race.  The  whole  primeval  wilderness  teems 
with  civilized  men;  the  wide  domain  is  infused  and  impelled 
by  the  thought  and  principles  of  Christianity,  and  a  new  con- 
tinent is  set  as  a  brilliant  star  in  the  crown  of  Immanuel. 

We  turn  to  the  East,  and  the  ocean,  over  which  small 
shallops  brought  adventurous  men  to  unknown  lands  is  cross- 
ed in  every  direction  b\-  multitudes  of  ships,  carr^'ing  the 
stores  of  both  continents  to  and  fro,  and  hundred.s'-of  thousands 
of  voyagers.  Meantime,  Europe  has  more  than  once  been 
shaken  to  its  foundations  and  presents  a  new  aspect.  Some 
of  the*  old  monarchies  survive;  but  thrones  have  been 
cast  down  ;  old  institutions  have  vanished ;  the  masses  have 
been  elevated;  the  stately  grandeur  and  arrogance  of  the  few 
humbles  itself  before  the  many,  and  political  forms  appear, 
in  which  the  people  are  considered  as  an  element  in  the 
state.     Literature,    science,  the  mechanical    arts,  have    made 


'52  Quarter- Mill oiiiial  Anniversary  of  tJu 


astonishing  progress,  and  changed  the  very  face  of  life. 
Popery  and  Mohammedanism  have  lost  their  significance,  and  are 
manifestly  hasting  to  their  predicted  end.  The  Oriental  world 
has  thrown  down  its  separating  w^alls,  and  the  faith,  enterprise, 
civilization,  religion  of  the  west  are  introducing  new  ideas,  a 
new  faith  and  new  soul  into  their  effete  systems.  "  Eastern 
Jav^a  now  kneels  with  the  native  of  the  farthest  west  and 
worships."  No  former  period  of  history,  not  the  rise  and 
supremacy  of  Imperial  Rome  when  it  spread  Roman  power, 
and  thoughts  and  institutions  over  the  nations ;  nor  when  the 
empire  broke  into  the  ten  prophetic  kingdoms  behind  which 
the  little  horn  came  up  to  seduce,  and  subdue,  and  crush  all 
other  power ;  no  portion  of  recorded  time  has  wrought  such 
changes  upon  man's  earthly  habitation,  and  thoughts  and 
modes  of  living  as  have  occurred  during  the  life-time  of  this 
church.  The  politician  and  the  historian  see  truly,  but  see 
only  the  effects  of  man's  agency  and  rest  in  second  causes. 
The  Christian  surveys  the  scene  in  another  spirit,  and  recog- 
nizes the  march  of  the  King  of  Kings  "  Avhose  goings  forth 
have  been  from  of  old,  from  everlasting."  He  sees  in  all  the 
course  of  time,  and  especially  in  these  later  events,  the  acts  of 
Jesus  Christ  whose  is  this  world  and  who  seems  now  hasting  His 
preparations  to  take  full  possession  of  His  purchased  Kingdom, 
"  the  earth  and  the  fulness  thereof"      He  sees  and  adores. 

But  what  eye  can  pierce  the  darkness  ;  what  human  sagacity 
can  forecast  the  events  of  the  next  250  years  ?  It  is  not  given 
to  man  to  read  the  future.  But  the  Scriptures  utter  divine 
revelations,  and  say  "  let  him  that  readeth  understand." 
Upon  that  darkness,  then,  we  turn  the  lamp  of  prophecy,  and 
wondrous  scenes  are  unfolded  to  the  eye  of  faith.  Long  be- 
fore those  years  shall  have  run  their  course  the  millennial 
glory,  as  we  believe,  shall  have  overspread  the  earth.  Not  in 
the  degradation  of  the  mediator,  Christ,  to  a  human  shape, 
surrounding  himself  with  the  pageantry  and  low  splendors  of  a 
worldly  monarchy  shall  it  be.  But  upon  the  throne  to  which 
He  ascended,  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  "  He  shall 
see  the  travail  of  His  soul ;"   the  life  of  sorrow  ;  the  agony  of  the 


Reformed  Protestant  DuteJi  Chinr/i.  5  3 


garden  ;  the  inijxilenient  of  Cahary  ;  the  disgrace  of  deatli ;  His 
incarnation  and  atonement  in  their  blessed  fruits,  "  and  shall  be 
satisfied."  The  church  shall  continue  its  offices,  not,  as  we 
believe,  all  merged  in  one.  but  still  di\erse  in  form  to  suit 
di\'ersit\-  of  tastes,  }'et  truh'  one  in  mutual  recognition,  and 
brotherhood  and  love.  Governments  will  exist,  and  they  not  one, 
perhaps,  but  several.  Social  and  civil  life  will  go  on  as  now,  for 
men  will  still  be  men,  but  good  men.  And  learning  and  the 
arts  of  life,  inventions  and  discoveries  which  even  in  our  day  of 
wonders  we  can  scarce  imagine,  will  be  in  full  operation.  Wars 
and  rumors  of  wars  shall  b(5  no  more  heard.  Commerce  shall 
interchange  the  riches  of  all  climes  and  bring  all  people  into 
kind  fellowship.  All  these  various  agencies  in  harmonious 
action,  which  are  God's  providence  over  the  world,  and  above 
all,  Christianit}',  the  one  acknowledged  religion,  perwading  and 
animating  all  hearts,  all  relations,  all  duties;  these  and  such 
shall  be  the  days  of  the  Son  of  Man  on  the  earth  and  they  shall 
last  a  thousand  }'ears.  Then,  and  now  speedily  perhaps,  shall  be 
heard  the  gratulations  of  a  renovated  race.  The  prophetic  sea 
of  peoples,  and  nations  and  tongues,  so  long  at  strife,  shall  have 
rocked  itself  to  rest.  And  diverse  languages  shall  make  no 
discord,  but  become  the  several  parts  in  the  one  hymn  of 
praise ;  and  there  shall  go  up  from  all  peoples  and  tongues 
under  heaven,  earth's  grand  hallelujah  chorus,  and  the  burden 
shall  be :  "  Now  is  come  sahation  and  strength,  and  the 
Kingdom  of  our  God  and  the  power  of  His  Christ." 


Rcfoniud  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  55 


jSprtiifps  in  \\^  ^iipning. 


These  lucre  can  ducted  accordinf)  to  the  foUoiuing 

prograinme,  .mhich  tuas  carried  ant 

ta  the  luiniuest  particular. 


56  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


|Pr0gmmme  for  (Bbcntng  Serbke. 


Beu.  ^albot  M.  ^haiiibeiis,  l^.lid,^  pjiesiding. 


1  5^e  gnim  -  -  -  -  -•         g^enaelssohn 

*-^     r»>,  (Of  the 

2  ^vmin*  -  by  Bev.  M-  :£.  B.  t^ayloji,  B.B.  113,^,^8]^::^,^ 

3  %\\;mi  557    -  -  -  .     •        ^une,  "J^ustHia" 

I.  Glorious  things  of  thee  are  spoken,      2.  See,  the  streams  of  living  waters, 

Zion,  city  of  our  God  ;  Springing  from  eternal  love, 

He  whose  word  cannot  be  broken,  Well  supply  thy  sons  and  daughters, 

Fonned  thee  for  His  own  abode  :  And  all  fear  of  want  remove  : 

On  the  Rock  of  Ages  founded,  Who  can  faint,  while  such  a  river 

What  can  shake  thy  sure  repose  ?  Ever  flows  their  thirst  to  assuage  ? 

With  salvation's  walls  surrounded,  Grace,  which,  like  the  Lord,  the  Giver, 

Thou  mayst  smile  at  all  thy  foes.  Never  fails  from  age  to  age. 

3.   Round  each  habitation  hovering, 

See  the  cloud  and  fire  appear, 
For  a  glory  and  a  covering, 

Showing  that  the  Lord  is  near  : 
Thus  deriving  from  their  Banner 

Light  by  night,  and  shade  by  day. 
Safe  they  feed  upon  the  manna 

Which  He  gives  them  when  they  pray. 


^   %mm  -          by  Beu.  Potisan  Bix,  B.B.  { ,^;£^|- ,,, 

5  ^mm  -  ■           by  Bcv.  B.  It  Bogciis,  B.B.  |^£{°^^f^, 

6  g^tttltem  -           "^he  leavens  atie  ^ellinc)."      -      laydn 

7  g^tUlV^jSiiSi  -          by  Bev.  lowaiid  (^iiosby,  B.B.  j P-'-c^^yH'^" 

8  ^(UIf^$<»  by  Hev.  ^homas  !t?).  J^nderiSoiv  "^^^^  { Baptist  church 


Refornicd  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  57 


llrocjrammc  for  (L-bening  J»crbicc. 


I.  Holy,  Holy,  Holy!    Lord  God  Almighty! 

Early  in  the  morning  our  songs  shall  rise  to  Thee  : 
Holy,  Holy,  Holy  !   merciful  and  mighty  ; 
God  111  Three  Persons,  Blessed  Trinity  ! 

Holy,  Holy,  Holy  !  all  the  saints  adore  Thee, 

Casting  down  their  golden  crowns  around  the  glassy  sea. 

Cherubim  and  seraphim  falling  down  before  Thee, 
Which  wert,  and  art,  and  evermore  shalt  be. 

3.  Holy,  Holy,  Holy  !  Though  the  darkness  hide  Thee, 

Though  the  eye  of  sinful  man  Thy  glory  may  not  see. 
Only  Thou  art  Holy  ;  there  is  none  beside  Thee 
Perfect  in  power,  in  love,  and  purity. 

4.  Holy,  Holy,  Holy  !   Lord-God  Almighty  ! 

All  Thy  works  shall  praise  Thy  name,  in  earth,  and  sky,  and  sea  : 
Holy,  Holy,  Holy !    merciful  and  mighty  ; 
God  in  Three  Persons,  Blessed  Trinity  !     Amen. 


10   ^Uxm       -        by  Mm.  •^.  H.  tiffany,  ItD.B.  j^p^^^^rL^^ 

(  Of  the 

t  1    '^(Ulrf,$.$      -      by  Bcu.  Bic.bat;d  ^.  .^tonis,  B.3?).  j ^""l^'hTch '"'' 
12   ftallcluiltn   Chorus         .  .  -  -  ^landel 

18   JOXOlOgy       -      Ipm  574.      -      ^"»c,  "l^')kl  l;lundrcd" 

I.  From  all  that  dwell  below  the  skies        2.  Eternal  are  Tiiy  mercies,  Lord  : 
Let  the  Creator's  praise  arise  ;  Eternal  truth  attends  Thy  word  ; 

Let  the  Redeemer's  name  be  sung  Thy  praise  shall  sound  from  shore 

Through  every  land,  by  every  tongue.  to  shore 

Till  suns  shall  set  and  rise  no  more. 

1^  gencautiou 

Music  will  be  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  S.  Austen  Pearce. 

«  Mr.  \V.  E.  Beames  will  preside  at  Organ. 


Reformed  Protestant  Ditteh  C/uireh.  59 


^l)c  ^tiDvcsscs. 


At  half-past  seven  o'clock  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chambers 
took  the  chair,  and  the  pulpit  was  occupied  by  the 
other  pastors  and  the  officiating  clergy,  At  the  close 
of  the  preliminary  music  and  devotions,  the  president 
said  : 

"The  purpose  for  which  we  are  gathered  this  even- 
ing is  to  listen  to  some  words  of  sympathy  and  con- 
gratulation from  brethren  representing  the  different 
ecclesiastical  communions  by  which  we  are  surrounded. 
The  oldest  of  them  dates  its  origin  back  to  the 
English  conquest,  and  came  naturally  to  be  called  at 
that  time  the  English  church,  while  we  were  known  as 
the  Dutch  church.  The  speaker  this  afternoon  re- 
minded us  of  the  pleasant  relations  which  then  existed 
between  the  two  bodies.  Those  relations  have  con- 
tinued unchanged  from  that  day  to  this.  There  was, 
at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  a  ripple  of  controversy 
on  a  doctrinal  point  between  one  of  the  ministers  of 
this  church  (the  Rev.  Dr.  \Vm.  Linn),  and  one  of  the 


6o  Quarter- Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


assistant  ministers  of  Trinity,  (the  Rev.  Dr.  Benjamin 
Moore,  afterwards  Bishop  of  the  Diocese),  and  it 
resulted,  as  such  controversies  usually  do,  in  each  party 
being  more  firmly  persuaded  of  his  own  opinion;  but 
it  was  conducted  without  personalities,  without  bitter- 
ness, and  left  no  sting  behind. 

"I  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you,  as  the 
representative  of  that  church,  one  whom  we  honor  for 
his  own  sake,  and  for  his  father's  sake,  and  for  the 
sake  of  the  official  position  which  he  occupies :  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Morgan  Dix,  Rector  of  Trinity  Church." 


Reformed  Protestant  Dnteh  Ckiireh.  6 1 


DR.    DIX'S   ADDRESS. 


Reverend  Fathers  of  the  Consistory  of  the  Co/teo-iate  C/uireh, 
and  dear  friends  and  brethren  : 

In  the  name-  of  the  most  high  God,  whose  dominion  is  an 
everlasting  dominion  and  His  kingdom  from  generation  to 
generation,  under  whose  protection  we  are  gathered  together 
here,  and  to  whom  alone  we  look  as  the  giver  of  every  good 
and  perfect  gift,  I  bring  to  you,  on  this  two  hundred  and  fiftieth 
anniversary,  the  message  of  good  will  and  peace.  Peace  be 
to  you  in  this  your  spiritual  house ;  peace  be  to  you  in  your 
homes  and  in  your  hearts ;  and  love  with  faith  from  God  the 
Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  grace  be  with  all  them 
that  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity. 

Let  me  begin  by  disclaiming  for  myself  the  very  high  honor 
of  occupying  the  first  place  among  the  speakers  of  this  even- 
ing. That  honor  belongs  to  the  office  I  hold,  not  to  the  person 
who  fills  it.  Every  one  familiar  with  our  metropolitan  history 
knows  that  the  rector  of  Trinity  Church  for  the  time  being 
would,  as  a  matter  of  course,  be  present  on  this  occasion. 
The  corporations  which  you  and  I  represent  are  the  oldest  in 
the  City  of  New  York.  The  Collegiate  Church  and  Trinity 
Church  have  long,  long  histories,  which  began  when  this 
city  was  comparatively  a  mere  village,  and  have  run  on,  side 
by  side,  in  cloud  and  sunshine,  under  the  providence  of  Al- 
mighty God.  We  have  always  been  good  friends ;  through 
some  special  perils,  common  to  us  both  have  we  been  brought 
in  safety  ;  our  relations  in  the  earliest  days  were  very  intimate; 
and  although  those  relations  no  longer  exist,  yet  the  mutual 
honor  and  regard  have  not  failed.  Thus  it  is  meet  and  right 
that  on  this  great  day  of  your  rejoicing  we  should  see  each 
other  face  to  face,  and  that  I  should  bring  to  you  a  kind  word 


62  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


from  my  people,  and  in  their  name,  as  well  as  on  my  own 
part,  wish  you  health  and  prosperity. 

Changes  have  come  with  the  growing  years  to  your  house; 
but  while  we  keep  this  feast  the  thoughts  revert,  as  by  instinct, 
to  the  Dutch  era  of  our  history  and  the  old  Dutch  Church. 
With  accuracy  have  you  counted  the  days  back  into  the  past. 
In  1623  the  first  permanent  agricultural  settlement  was  made 
in  New  Netherland,  and  in  1628,  five  years  later,  the  first 
Dutch  minister  arrived  at  Manhattan,  and  began  the  regular 
exercise  of  his  ministry.  That  period  of  our  history  is  appre- 
ciated more  and  more  as  time  passes  on.  I  was  trained  from 
my  boyhood  to  honor  and  love  the  good  old  Dutch  forefathers, 
and  to  admire  their  simple,  homely  ways  ;  the  studies  of  mature 
years  have  added  force  and  depth  to  those  first  impressions. 
The  latest  of  our  historical  writers,  in  treating  of  those  times, 
says  that  "  it  is  plain  that  under  the  Dutch  rule  New  York 
must  have  been  the  happiest,  though  not  the  most  progressive, 
of  the  American  provinces."  "  That  happiness,"  he  adds, 
"  was  due  to  the  simplicity  and  contentment,  the  easy-going 
industry  and  love  of  harmless  amusement,  and  to  the  liberal 
and  kindly  spirit  which  marked  the  men  and  their  manners." 
"  They  worked  steadily,  governed  their  households  wisely,  and 
persecuted  nobody."  No  wonder  that  they  .enjoyed  life;  no 
wonder  that  our  restless,  pushing,  driving,  ambitious,  and  dis- 
satisfied people  do  not  enjoy  it.  Talk  as  we  may  of  modern 
enterprise  and  progress,  they  do  not  always  bring  happiness ; 
they  are  apt  to  banish  peace  and  breed  discontent  and  disgust. 
The  happy  days  are  gone,  to  return  no  more  till  men  will 
moderate  and  curb  their  desires,  and  relish,  as  of  old,  a  quiet, 
simple  life. 

You  all  know  that  the  first  form  of  Christianity  professed  in 
this  place  was  brought  hither  by  the  settlers  from  Holland. 
Your  ancestors  did  nothing  without  religion.  Hither  came 
the  dominies,  the  schoolmasters,  the  comforters-of-the-sick, 
along  with  the  first  colonists ;  and  on  those  humble  foundations 
which  they  laid  was  invoked  the  benediction  of  Almighty  God. 
You  know,  also,  that  the   Dutch   were  a  liberal  and  tolerant 


Rcforiticd  Protestant  Dutch  CInnrli.  63 

people;  and  that,  as  a  eonsequence  of  their  g;"eneiou.s  temper 
and  poHcy,  this  island  became  an  asylum  for  the  persecuted 
and  oppressed  in  adjacent  parts.  It  is  one  of  the  brightest 
features  in  your  history;  it  explains,  perhaps,  the  cordiality 
with  which  )'our  in\-itation  to  rejoice  with  }'ou  this  evening  has 
been  accepted. 

Hut  while  we,  descendants  of  luiglish  Churchmen,  thus  do 
honor  to  the  virtues  of  the  Dutch  and  to  the  spirit  of  that 
form  of  Christianity  which  they  established  here,  we  may 
claim  credit  and  commendation  for  the  way  in  which  our 
ancestors  behaved  themselves  when  the  first  period  of  the  his- 
tory closed.  New  Amsterdam  was  taken  ;  it  became  New 
York ;  and  the  Church  of  England  was  planted  where  the  Classis 
of  Amsterdam  had  been  the  supreme  and  only  ecclesiastical 
authority.  But  observe  how  scrupulousl)'  the  rights  of  your 
forefathers  were  respected.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in  history  ; 
never  did  conquerors  treat  the  conquered  with  such  deference 
and  consideration.  As  far  as  possible  the  old  customs 
were  preserved ;  private  rights,  contracts,  inheritances,  were 
scrupulously  regarded ;  and  as  for  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church,  it  seems  to  have  been  treated  as  a  sacred  thing.  It 
was  more  than  protected ;  it  was  actually  established  by  law 
by  an  English  governor  under  English  auspices.  This  was, 
perhaps,  no  more  than  a  fair  return  for  the  good  deeds  done 
by  your  people.  When  your  turn  came  to  be  under  the  yoke, 
it  was  said  to  you  in  substance :  "  You  shall  still  be  free  ; 
not  one  of  your  old  customs  shall  be  changed  until  you 
change  them  yourselves ;  by  us  you  shall  not  be  meddled 
with;  keep  your  places  of  worship,  your  flocks,  and  all  you 
have,  in  peace."  And  so,  to  their  old  church  of  St.  Nicholas, 
inside  the  fort,  did  your  people  continue  to  wend  their  way  in 
absolute  security,  though  English  sentries  were  at  the  gates; 
and  within  the  ;^valls  over  which  the  standard  of  f^ngland 
waved  did  the  good  Dutch  dominie  speak  his  mind  as  freely 
as  ever  to  his  spiritual  children  ;  nor  was  it  until  they  had 
finished  their  devotions  and  withdrawn  that  the  English 
chaplain  ventured  within  the  same  house  of  worship  to  read 


64  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 

his  Office  from  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  I  see  in  this 
what  does  credit  to  humanity  ;  here  be  kind  consideration, 
mutual  respect,  and  on  both  sides  a  study  of  the  things  that 
make  for  peace.  Nor  is  it  strange  that  when  the  Episcopal 
ministry  was  at  length  set  up,  and  my  reverend  predecessor, 
William  Vesey,  had  appeared  in  New  York,  in  deacon's  and 
priest's  orders,  and  having  his  commission  as  first  rector  of 
Trinity  Church,  the  civil  ceremony  of  induction  should  have 
taken  place  in  the  new  stone  church  in  Garden  Street  belong- 
ing to  the  Dutch  congregation,  and  that  among  the  subscribing 
witnesses  should  have  been  two  of  the  ministers  of  your  faith. 
It  was  on  Christmas-day,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1697,  that 
he  was  duly  inducted  into  his  office  by  Governor  Benjamin 
Fletcher  ;  and  in  the  same  building,  for  about  three  months, 
until  the  completion  of  the  church  of  the  English  congregation, 
did  your  Dominie  Selyns  and  our  Rector  Vesey  officiate 
alternately,  the  one  in  the  Dutch  language,  the  other  in  the 
English  tongue. 

It  is  not  only  on  the  religious  side,  however,  that  you  chal- 
lenge our  respect  as  a  historic  body;  your  church  was  the 
pioneer  of  education  in  this  place.  The  good  old  Dutch  fore- 
fathers believed  that  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of 
wisdom ;  and  so  wherever  they  sent  the  rninister  they  also 
sent  the  schoolmaster,  that  learning  might  go  on  abreast  with 
religion,  and  that  religion  might  give  its  blessing  to  learning. 
When  the  colony  passed  under  English  rule  the  old  system 
was  exactly  maintained;  with  this  sole  difference,  that  school- 
masters must  get  their  licenses  from  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury instead  of  the  Amsterdam  Classis.  It  is  generally 
acknowledged  that  the  existing  system  of  education  in  the 
State  of  New  York  owes  its  origin,  in  part,  to  the  character, 
policy,  and  customs  of  your  predecessors,  whose  scheme,  in 
its  general  features,  was  adopted  by  the  English,  and  whose 
influence  thus  remained  active  long  after  the  reins  of  civil 
power  had  been  taken  from  their  hands. 

Of  such  as  these  specimens  are  the  other  parts  of  the 
historical   record  of  your  venerable   household  of  faith ;  and 


Rcfor))icd  Protestant  Dutch  C/inirh. 


ft)!"  these  good  beginnings  are  you  justly  lickl  in  honor  by 
the  intelHgent  citizens  of  New  York.  What  has  been  the 
history  of  your  denomination,  from  those  early  days  to  our 
own,  you  know  better  than  we  who  are  exterior  to  your  fold; 
but,  in  observing  you,  we  think  that  we  find  among  the 
children  many  of  those  qualities  and  traits  which  pleased  us 
in  the  fathers.  You  have  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  sensa- 
tional religion;  )'ou  seem  a  sober-minded,  steady-going  folk; 
you  do  not  shock  us  by  exhibitions  of  unwholesome  excite- 
ment, nor  do  you,  by  your  manners  or  words,  rob  religion 
of  her  dignity,  or  weaken  the  habit  of  reverence  in  the  hearts 
of  the  young.  It  has  been  my  fortune  to  become  acquainted, 
officially,  with  some  individuals  of  your  number ;  I  am  now 
connected  in  the  same  way  with  others,  by  duties  which  bring 
us  frequently  together ;  and  in  these  cases,  what  was  at  first 
a  professional  acquaintanceship  has  ultimately  taken  the 
higher  form  of  sincere  respect  and  affectionate  regard.  In 
particular  I  recall  the  venerable  form,  the  benevolent  features, 
of  one  whom  I  came  to  honor  and  love,  and  on  whose 
memory  I  shall  ever  dwell  as  that  of  one  who  seemed  a 
pattern  of  Christian  virtues — the  Rev.  Thomas  De  Witt,  whose 
colleague  I  was  for  several  years  in  the  fulfillment  of  an  im- 
portant trust,  a  man  whom  it  was  a  help  and  blessing  to  know. 
If  he  and  men  like  him  were  feir  examples  of  the  result  of 
your  principles  and  the  quality  of  your  religion,  you  cannot 
be  thought  to  have  degenerated,  even  though  in  name,  and 
perchance  otherwise,  changes  have  passed  over  your  house. 
To  that  house  I  cheerfully  bring  greeting  from  our  people, 
assuring  you  of  our  good  will,  and  trusting  that,  as  years  go 
on,  we  may  work  together,  under  the  providence  of  the  Lord 
of  all,  for  those  ends  which  shall  best  promote  His  glory,  the 
salvation  of  souls  through  Christ,  and  the  peace  and  order 
of  thecommonwealth. 


66  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  tlie 


At  the  conclusion  of  the  foregoing  address,  Dr. 
Chambers  said  : 

"  In  the  early  part  of  this  century,  one  of  the  congre- 
gations of  the  Collegiate  church  separated  itself  from 
the  main  body  and  became  independent.  This  was 
the  Garden  Street  church.  When  its  house  of  wor- 
ship, then,  I  think,  the  oldest  in  the  city,  was  de- 
stroyed by  the  disastrous  fire  in  183.5,  it  divided  itself 
into  two  branches,  one  remaining  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  city,  the  other  removing  up-town.  The  last 
pastor  of  one  of  those  branches,  the  Rev.  Dr  Hutton, 
honored  us  with  his  venerable  presence  this  afternoon, 
and  took  part  in  the  services.  The  present  pastor 
of  the  other,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rogers,  for  many  years 
minister  at  Albany,  in  the  church,  of  what  two  centuries 
ago  was  called  Fort  Orange,  an  organization,  next  in 
age  to  our  own,  has  consented  to  speak  to  us  in  the 
name  of  the  other  Dutch  churches  of  the  island." 


Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  67 


DR.    ROGERS'S    ADDRESS. 


Dear  brethren  : 

It  is  a  matter  of  congratulation  to  myself  that  the  duty 
assigned  me  on  this  occasion  is  one  which  does  not  call  for 
lengthened  or  elaborate  address.  I  come  here  as  one  of  the 
"children  of  the  ancient  household,  visiting  the  old  paternal 
roof,  and  bringing  the  congratulations  and  good  wishes  of  the 
family  circle  to  the  old  folks  at  home.  And  it  is  a  pleasant 
thing  that  it  comes  just  at  this  season  of  the  year,  when  we 
are  to  keep  our  annual  thanksgiving  service  which  brings 
together  the  scattered  children  of  the  household,  who  come 
back  in  so  man}'  instances  throughout  our  land  to  see  the 
spot  that  gave  them  birth,  to  see  the  parents  who  brought 
them  into  being  and  reared  and  cherished  them,  to  thank  them 
for  all  they  did  for  them  in  their  infancy  and  youth,  and  to 
spend  a  few  hours  in  sweet  famil\'  union  and  communion 
before  they  separate  again  to  go  back  to  the  work  and  the 
warfare  of  life. 

There  are  "nian}'  of  m\'  brethren  here  to-night,  sir,  who 
might  more  appropriately,  more  effectively,  and  more  elo- 
quently discharge  the  duty  which  the  kindness  of  your  Con- 
sistory has  assigned  to  me  ;  but  there  is  not  one  of  them  all 
who  can  do  it  A\ith  a  warmer  heart,  or  with  a  more  true  affec- 
tion, or  with  a  higher  appreciation  of  what  the  Dutch  Church 
in  New  York  owes  to  this  ancient  and  venerable  body.  And 
yet,  sir, 'I  have  been  in  a  measure  perplexed  as  to  the  question 
of  identity  and  propriety  here.  Why,  as  I  sat  this  afternoon 
and  listened  to  that  glowing  and  eloquent  description  of  the 
history  of  the  Dutch  Church  of  New  York,  all  it  had  done, 
all  it  was,  all  that  (iod  had  enabled  it  to  be  and  to  do,  I  sat  in 
the  most  comforfcible  and  pleasant  state   of  mind,  thinking 


Quarter- Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


that  I  was  part  of  all  that,  and  that   my  church,  having  been 
for   nearly  two   hundred  years  one  of  this  circle  of  churches, 
was  the  oldest  of  them  all.     I  find  when  I  look  at  that  docu- 
ment which  called  me  to  my  native  city,  after  years  of  absence, 
to  take  a  pastoral  charge  here,  that  I  was  called  by  the  elders 
and  deacons  of  the   Reformed   Protestant   Dutch    Church    in 
Garden  Street,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  to  be  their  pastor ; 
and  I  learned  this  afternoon  what  I  knew  well  before,  sir,  that 
that   old   Garden  Street  church  in  the  city  of  New  York  was 
the  very  first  of  the  Dutch  churches  of  this  city,  and  for  many 
years  was  the  oldest  church  in  this  connection.     And  so  I  be- 
gan to  feel  really  it  was  a  very  indelicate  thing  for  me  to  take 
any  public  part  in  this  service,  as  I  was  one  of  the  family,  and 
should  rather  sit  and  absorb  all  these  delightful  and  pleasant 
things  which  our  friend   Dr.  Dix  has  begun  by  saying,  and 
which  these  other  excellent  brethren  are  to   continue  to   say 
this  evening.     And  yet  it. is  a  fact  that  seventy-two  or  seventy- 
three  years  ago  Garden  Street  did  become  independent  of  this 
venerable  body ;  and  so  by  a  strange  transformation — trans- 
migration, I  should  say — one  of  the  fathers   has  come  to  be 
one  of  the  sons,  and  I  am  sent  here  now  to  speak  for  the  rest 
of  the  children.     Well,  sir,  I  am  glad  to  be  counted  as  one  of 
the  sons,  and  to  have  the  honor  of  speaking  in  behalf  of  such 
a  ■  respectable   family.     Sir,  I  bring  you,  then,  the  congratula- 
tions, good  wishes,  and  grateful  thanks  of  the  other  churches 
of  our  faith   and   name  in  this  great  city  and  vicinity.     We 
honor  you  ;  we  love  you  ;  we  are  grateful  to  you  ; .  we  thank 
God  that  we  belong  to  the   same  family  circle,  and  we  are 
grateful  to  you,  grateful  to  this  church,  that  for  this  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  it  has  held  up  on  this  Island  and  in  this 
land  the  banner  of  Christ  with   such  a   firm,  true,  and   loyal 
grasp,  never  trailing   it  before   the   foe.     Many   a  trumpeter 
blowing  the  silver  trumpet  of  the  Gospel  has  ascended  your 
towers   during  this  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  but  in  not  a 
single  case  has  the  trumpet  given  an  uncertain  sound.     The 
pure   faith  of  God's  Word,  the   faith   dear  to  our  fathers,  the 
faith  transmitted  by  them  to  us,  the  faith'  sent  across  the  sea 


Rcfonncd  Protcsiant  Dutch  Church.  69 

to  bear  fruit  in  this  Western  wiklerness,  has  been  upheld  by 
them  during  all  this  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  with  a  true 
Christian  fidelity  and  Christian  heroism;  and  the  children, 
speaking"  in  their  name,  are  strengthened  in  their  attachment 
to  this  ancient  faith  and  these  ancient  forms  by  the  noble  ex- 
ami)le  of  fidelit)'  which  this  church  has  set  us  during  all  these 
two  hundred  and  fift}'  j'cars.  No  man  who  lias  sat  under  the 
ministr}'  of  those  men  of  (iod  whose  portraits  grace  the  room 
in  the  rear  of  this  building,  at  which  I  wish  all  this  vast  as- 
sembly could  look,  for  they  could  not  see  in  any  portrait  gal- 
ler}'  in  the  earth  a  nobler  set  of  men — men  of  God,  men  of 
culture,  men  of  scholarship,  men  of  devotion ;  no  man  can 
say  that  the  trumpet  has  in  a  solitary  case  given  an  uncertain 
sound,  but  the  truths  which,  as  we  heard  this  afternoon, 
ha\e  been  testified  to  b}'  the  sufferings  and  blood  of  the 
fathers  in  the  old  land,  have  been  presented  by  the  sons  with 
equal  fidelit}%  and  have  borne  abundant  fruit  in  this  new  world  ; 
ami  all  the  children,  the  thoi^isands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
children  that  ha\-e  been  trained  up  in  this  church  have  been 
trained  up  in  the  same  faith.  And  if  you  will  remember  the 
histor\'  of  the  men  whb  have  been  reared  up  in  this  church 
and  have  gone  out  in  the  various  walks  of  life,  whose  names  I 
might  recount  here,  you  w^ould  say  that  their  history  and 
character  were  the  natural  influence  of  such  a  thorough  and 
earnest  training. 

What  shall  I  say  of  the  men  themselves  who  liave  stood  on 
these  towers  and  preached  this  faith  ?  I  remember  some  of 
them.  I  shall  remember  them  as  long  as  I  livx\  Take  the 
three  men  who  were  the  pastors  of  this  church  in  my  child- 
hood, who,  as  I  niet  them  sometimes  on  the  Sabbath  arrayed 
in  their  canonicals,  imjiressed  \w\  \'outhful  imagination  more 
profoundly  than  it  has  ever  been  impressed  since  those  days — 
take  these  three  men.  so  unlike  and  with  so  much  individu- 
ality about  them,  and  yet  such  men  of  power  and  of  such 
wonderful  character — Knox,  Brownlee,  and  De  Witt.  If  these 
three  men  alone  were  to  go  down  to  posterit}-  as  the  repre- 
sentatives   of   tlu:    ministry  of  this    church,   their    testimony 


70  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


would  be  one  which  never  could  be  gainsaid.  It  would  carry 
convincing  pow.er  to  the  very  end  of  time  in  behalf  of  the 
church  which  had  chosen  and  sat  under  the  ministry  of  men 
like  these.  So  I  might  speak  of  the  laymen  of  the  church — 
men  who,  in  the  various  branches  of  life,  at  the  bar,  minister- 
ing to  the  sick,  in  the  walks  of  trade  and  finance,  have  been 
men  distinguished  for  integrity,  for  uprightness,  for  devout- 
ness,  for  the  fear  of  God  and  the  love  of  all  that  was .  good  in 
man — such  men  as  Wood,  Woodruff,  Frelinghuysen,  Slosson, 
Smith,  Nelson,  Van  Nest,  Suydam,  Sturges,  Jeremiah,  and 
Brower — and  other  men  whom  I  cannot  recall  at  the  mo- 
ment, but  whose  names  are  household  words  in  the  walks 
of  trade  and  among  the  brethren  of  the  bar,  and  their 
children  and  their  children's  children.  The  church  that  has 
trained  up  and  sent  forth  such  men  is  certainly  entitled  to  the 
gratitude  of  all  this  community. 

And,  sir,  I  feel  that  we  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to 
this  church  because  she  has  maintained  always  the  exter- 
nals of  worship,  not  only  in  their  purity,  but  in  their 
beauty,  in  their  liberality,  and  in*  their  propriety.  My 
excellent  friend  who  preceded  me  alluded  to  this.  Surely 
something  is  due  of  gratitude  from  the  children  to  the  parents 
who  have  maintained  the  house  of  God  in  its  beauty,  in  its 
dignity,  and  who  have  kept  its  pulpit  sacredly  free,  as  has  so 
well  been  said,  from  anything  like  sensationalism,  anything 
that  ministers  to  the  lower  tastes  of  the  populace.  I  thank 
God  that  the  Dutch  Church  has  no  place  in  it  for  sensation- 
alists, and  if  any  ever  appear  for  a  time  among  us,  they  very 
soon  find  that  they  are  in  an  uncongenial  atmosphere,  and 
they  gravitate  inevitably  to  their  own  place.  I  thank  God 
that  our  Church  has  always  preserved  the  order,  the  decorum 
and  dignity  of  its  pulpit,  and  the  beauty  and  simplicity  of  its 
forms  of  worship.  And  I  am  grateful  that  it  has  set  an  ex- 
ample to  all  churches  respecting  caring  for  the  ministry  of  the 
Word.  Her  arrangements  for  them  have  always  been  of  the 
most  becoming  and  liberal  character.  It '  was  said  in  regard 
to   a  certain   distinguished   New  England  divine,  many  years 


Rcfonncd  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  7 1 


a^o,  duriiiL;"  his  call  to  a  certain  iironiinont  puli)it,  the  cominit- 
toc  said :  "  We  hope  that  if  you  accept  our  call,  you  will  trust 
God  to  keep  you  humble :  you  may  trust  the  church  to  keep 
you  poor."  That  has  not  been  the  principle  of  this  church. 
She  has  never  had  one  standard  of  spirituality  for  her  dominies 
and  another  for  her  members.  She  has  provided  things,  not 
only  honest,  but  liberal  in  the  sight  of  all  men,  and  as  believ- 
ing in  the  cardinal  principle  of  God's  own  word,  that  the 
laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire.  And  in  that  she  is  entitled  to 
the  gratitude  of  her  children,  and  is  an  example  to  all  her 
sisters.  But,  sir,  I  must  not  enlarge ;  in  fact,  I  feel  the  time 
is  sacred  to  the  representatives  of  other  churches,  and  that  I, 
as  one  of  you,  have  nothing  to  say  except  we  are  glad  to  come 
back  to  our  own  home  to  see  our  parents,  and  to  rejoice  in 
their  vigor.  Why,  they  are  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  old, 
but  there  is  not  a  wrinkle  on  their  brows.  Who  would  sup- 
pose that  he  who  enchanted  us  so  long  this  afternoon  was  the 
ssnior  minister  of  this  church  ?  Wh\',  the  church  is  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  old ;  but  what  is  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ?  We  are  just  beginning  our  work — just  beginning  our 
life.  May  you  go  on  and  set  us  a  good  example  in  all  those 
things  to  which  I  have  referred,  steadfast  to  the  truth  of  God, 
caring  for  the  order  and  dignity  of  God's  house,  respecting 
and  honoring  the  faithful  ministers  of  God,  training  up  the 
children  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  in  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  giving  largely  to  benevolent  causes,  and  to  assist 
feeble  churqhes.  I  might  have  .said  much  on  that  score,  but 
your  character  is  too  well  known  to  need  any  enlargement. 
May  the  past  be  prophetic  of  the  future.  For  whatever  may 
be  the  signs  of  the  times  in  regard  to  denominational  pros- 
perity and  growth,  one  thing  is  certain,  the  power  that  this 
church  has  exerted,  and  the  prosperity  to  which  it  has  attained 
in  these  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  has  been  due  to  the  fact 
that  its  foundation  was  God's  truth,  the  cross  of  Christ ;  and 
that  foundation  still  stands,  and  on  that  foundation  in  years  to 
come  this  church,  still  resting  and  trusting  to  the  power  of 
God's  Spirit,  ha^   nothing  to  fear  from  the  progress  of  time. 


72  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


We  only  hope  that  when  generations  and  generations  still, 
have  passed  away,  and  we  who  are  now  the  children,  fathers, 
and  grandfathers,  go  down  to  our  graves,  others  will  arise  up 
after  us  to  come  up  to  such  convocations  as  this  in  days  to 
come,  and  thank  God  then  that  this  church  lives,  has  done,  is 
doing,  and  will  do  a  blessed  work  for  God,  for  truth,  for  our 
country,  and  for  the  world. 


Rcfonticd  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  73 


After  the  performance  of  the  anthem,  "The  Heav- 
ens are  Telhng,"  Dr.  Chambers    said  : 

"The  next  oldest  denomination  in  our  city  is  one 
closely  resembling  our  own  in  doctrine,  and  order, 
and  spirit — one  with  which  we  have  always  held  in 
timate  and  affectionate  correspondence.  It  will  be 
represented  here  this  evening  by  one  equally  distin- 
guished in  letters,  in  the  professorial  chair,  and  in 
the  pulpit ;  one  who  was  born  and  spent  the  rhost  of 
his  life  in  this  city,  and  one  peculiarly  dear  to  us  as 
springing  from  an  ancestry  which  for  generations  has 
been  honored  and  loved  in  our  Church.  I  have  the 
pleasure  to  introduce  to  you  the  Rev.  Dr.  Howard 
Crosby." 


Rifoniicd  Protestant  Dutch  Cliiirch.  75 


DR.  CROSBY'S  ADDRESS. 


The  Prcsb\-tcrian  Church  most  joyfull)'  takes  its  phice  in 
the  ranks  of  those  who  to-night  would  honor  and  congratu- 
hite  the  oldest  sister  church  on  the  Island  of  Manhattan.  We 
think  we  hold  a  ver)-  desirable  position,  chronological!}',  in 
the  Protestant  family  in  New  York.  We  look  to  our  older 
sisters,  the  Reformed  Dutch  and  Episcopal  churches,  with  an 
affection  that  is  somewhat  tinged  with  rev^erence,  while  we 
look  upon  our  }'ounger  sisters,  the  Baptist,  the  Methodist,  and 
the  Congregational  churches  with  an  equal  warmth  of  affec- 
tion, but,  perhaps,  tinged  somewhat  with  a  patronizing,  or, 
rather,  viatroinzi)ig  spirit. 

We  draw  from  our  older  sisters  that  dignity  and  conserva- 
tism which  have  always  marked  them,  while  we  also  are  able 
to  exhibit  some  of  that 'plastic  adaptedness  which  so  charac- 
terizes our  younger  sisters.  We  think  we  stand  midway  be- 
tween these  for  great  good  to  ourselves.  And  yet,  historically, 
there  is  one  fact  concerning  us  which  makes  us  not  a  little 
proud  in  comparison  with  them  all.  If  we  look  for  that  \\hich 
constitutes  a  mark  of  a  church's  genuineness,  w^e  look  for 
martyrdom,  for  persecution ;  and  we  boast  of  being  the  only 
church  in  the  city  of  New  York  that  began  its  career  amid 
the  storm  of  persecution.  Let  me  carry,  you  back,  if  you  are 
not  aware  of  the  story,  to  a  fact  in  the  histor\-  of  this  Island 
of  Manhattan.  I  touch  for  a  few  moments  (for  only  a  few 
moments  are  given  me)  on  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  here.  Let  us  go  back  to  the  month  of  January,  1707, 
a  cold  January  day,  and  we  will  take  a  look  into  the  (io\ern- 
or's  house.  There  never  was  a  Colonial  Governor  in  New 
York  who  so  completely  aped  the  monarch  as  Lord  Cornbury, 
He  was  own  Qpusin  to  Queen  Anne,  who  was  then  upon  the 


76  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


throne.  He  was  determined  to  make  the  colonists  understand 
his  relationship  to  the  sovereign ;  and  so  he  carried  a  little 
regal  state  with  him  in  his  gubernatorial  home.  We  come  to 
that  Governor's  house  and  see  those  royally-furnished  apart- 
ments, and  behold  the  Governor  himself  covered  with  sfold 
lace,  proud  of  his  dignity,  sitting  at  his  dinner-table,  and  at 
the  table,  as  invited  guests,  two  veiy  marked  men — one  es- 
pecially you  would  note  for  his  noble  bearing,  a  man  who  was 
a  scholar  ;  a  man  of  fascinating  appearance  and  manner,  but 
with  a  broad  Scotch  dialect.  These  two  guests  had  but  lately 
arrived  in  New  York,  and  the  Governor,  Lord  Cornbury,  had 
invited  them  to  visit  the  regal  mansion,  there  to  dine  with  his 
lordship.  They  had  accepted  the  invitation,  and  before  that 
rousing  wood  fire  and  the  brass  andirons  in  the  big  chimney, 
they  were  enjoying  the  repast  at  the  Governor's  table.  What 
could  be  more  friendly  than  that  ?  Four  days  afterward  those 
two  men  were  languishing  in  the  city  jail,  an-d  there  they  spent 
two  long,  weary  months,  at  the  bidding  of  that  same  Governor, 
their  host  of  four  days  before.  One  of  those  men  twenty-five 
years  before  had  come  from  Scotland  'as  a  Presbyterian  minis- 
ter, first  to  Barbadoes,  and  then  to  the  colony  of  Maryland. 
That  Roman  Catholic  colony  of  Maryland,  and  the  Quaker 
colony  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Baptist  colony  of  Rhode 
Island,  were  the  only  three  colonies  that  opened  their  doors 
wide  to  Christians  of  all  denominations. 

The  Presbyterians  had  gone  into  Maryland  and  into  Penn- 
sylvania ;  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  had  been  established  in 
the  year  1706,  and  the  outlying  churches  of  that  Synod  ex- 
tended into  New  Jersey,  and  even  into  Long  Island.  This 
minister  came  from  Maryland,  where  he  had  been  stationed, 
and  had  done  a  great  and  good  work,  northward  to  look  at 
the  land,  to  New  York  and  New  England,  and  on  his  arrival 
in  New  York  had  been  so  courteously  (as  we  have  seen)  in- 
vited by  the  Governor  to  take  dinner  with  him,  but  on  the 
next  day,  which  was  Sunday,  in  the  house  of  one  William 
Jackson,  in  Pearl  street,  this  same  man  preached-  a  sermon, 
held  divine  service  and  baptized  a  child,  while  his  friend,  John 


Rcfonncd  Protestant  Dutch  Chinr/i.  yj 


Hampton,  also  went  to  Newtown,  Lon^  Islaiul,  and  there 
preached  in  the  church.  Vox  this  offence  of  preaching-  in  a 
colon}'  where  there  was  not  only  one  established  church,  but 
two  established  churches,  the  Governor  felt  that  his  dignity 
and  the  dignity  of  the  Crown  was  assailed.  'Die  men  were 
arrested,  and  it  was  two  months  before  they  were  let  out  of 
jail  and  allowed  to  give  bail  for  their  appearance  for  trial. 
Now  that  was  the  beginning  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this 
city.  At  that  time  there  were  but  four  church  buildings  in 
the  cit\'.  There  was  the  old  Garden  Street  Dutch  Church  ; 
there  was  Trinit\-  Church  at  the  head  of  Wall  street,  and  then 
two  other  churches  allowed  by  the  government,  because  the 
service  was  conducted  in  a  foreign  language,  and  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  foreign  exiles — the  French  church  in  Pine  street, 
the  Eglisc  du  St.  Esprit,  and  the  Church  of  the  Lutherans,  on 
the  site  that  was  afterward  covered  by  the  old  Grace  Church 
on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Rector  street.  These  were 
the  only  four  churches  at 'that  time  in  the  city,  and  the  city 
extended  only  to  Maiden  Lane,  except  upon  the  East  River 
shore.  And  yet,  twelve  years  after  that,  in  17 19,  the  Presby- 
terian church-building  in  Wall  street  was  erected — such  a 
change  had  come  over  the  public  opinion.  In  1741  a  new 
phase  of  Presbyterianism  marked  the  city,  and  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  country  from  this  reason.  The  old  Scotch 
and  Irish  Presbyterians  had  been  mingling  largely  with  Pres- 
byterians from  England,  Wales,  and  New  England.  Those 
who  had  come  from  England,  Wales,  and  New  England  had 
rather  more  Hberal  views  with  regard  to  some  practical  mat- 
ters than  the  old  staunch  men  of  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and 
the  opinions  began  to  differ  and  the  preaching  to  be  made 
much  wider,  until  at  last,  in  1 74 1,  there  was  a  complete  divis- 
ion, the  old  side  representing  the  Scotch  and  Irish  Presbyte- 
rianism, who  made  a  great  deal  of  what  they  called  "  literature," 
and  on  the  new  side  the  English,  Welsh,  and  New  Eng- 
land members,  principally,  who  made  a  great  deal  of  personal 
piety ;  not  that  all  the  personal  piety  was  on  their,  not 
that  all  the  literature  was   on  the  other  side,  but  these  were 


yS  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


emphasized  especially  on  the  two  sides.  Then  this  breach 
was  made,  and  the  Synod  of  New  York  was  constituted ;  then 
came  the  College  of  New  Jersey  as  a  helper  to  the  new  side, 
first  planted  at  Elizabeth,  then  at  Newark,  and  then  at  Prince- 
ton. After  seventeen  years  of  this  separation,  in  1758  they 
came  together  again.  This  was  the  origin  of  Presbyterianism 
in  this  city  and  in  this  part  of  our  country. 

Now  we  take  great  pleasure  to-night  in  recapitulating  this 
history  to  know  that  all  our  course  in  this  city  has  been  hand 
in  hand  and  heart  with  heart  with  this  glorious  old  mother 
church — the  Reformed  Dutch  Church.  We  rejoice  to  know 
that  even  while  differencees  have  broken  out  among  ourselves, 
we  have  never  had  any  differences  with  this  Church,  that  we 
always  have  honored,  and  honor  still  more  now  than  ever 
before.  When  we  may  be  accused  of  now  and  then  harbor- 
ing some  elements  of  sensation  among  ourselves,  we  draw 
nearer  to  these  conservative  brethren  and  are  strengthened ; 
and  we  believe  that  one  of  the  designs  of  Providence  in  main- 
taining the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York 
was  to  help  our  own  Presbyterian  Church  to  walk  straightly 
among  you.  But  I  will  not  enlarge.  It  is  from  the  bottom 
of  our  hearts  that  we,  as  Presbyterians,  give  our  congratulations 
to-night.  We  like  such  meetings  as  these.  •  We  like  to  see 
all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  banded  together  in  one 
service.  We  wish  we  could  have  them  from  week  to  week  ; 
we  wish  that  all  distinctions  might  be  obliterated  except  the 
distinctions  between  those  that  love  Jes'us  and  those  .who  do 
not;  and  we  shall  be  just  as  glad  when  Trinity  invites  us  to 
its  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary,  and  come  there  and 
take  our  part  and  say  our  words  of  congratulation,  and  rejoice 
with  just  as  great  sincerity  as  we  would  for  our  own  two  hun- 
dred and  fiftieth  anniversary  when  that  may  come. 


Reformed  Frotesta/it  DitteJi  Chiircli.  79 


At  the  conclusion  of  I^r.  Crosby's  address,  Ur. 
Chambers  said : 

"  riie  brother  who  is  next  to  address  us  appears  for 
a  denomination  which  could  dispute,  and  I  think  with 
some  justice,  the  claim  to  the  special  distinction 
of  martyrdom  which  has  been  made  by  the  speaker 
who  has  just  sat  down.  The  honor  of  being  cradled 
in  persecution  does,  indeed,  belong  to  the  vener- 
able body  which  he  so  worthily  represents.  But 
twenty  'years  before  the  occurrence  of  the  incident 
which  Dr.  Crosby  related  to  us  with  so  much  pictur- 
esque vividness,  a  Baptist  minister  came  to  Manhattan 
Island,  and  although  he  was  not  put  in  jail,  he  found 
it  convenient  to  leave  the  Island  much  more  quickly 
than  he  came.  This  body  of  Christians,  from  whom 
we  are  separated  by  order  and  discipline,  but  with 
w'hom  w^e  are  most  closely  united  in  substance  of  doc- 
trine ;  this  body,  w^iich  is  identified  with  soul  liberty 
and  soundness  of  faith,  is  represented  to  us  this  even- 
ing by  a  brother  who  has  long  held  an  important 
pastoral  charge  in  this  city,  and  has  frequently,  in 
union  efforts  of  prayer  and  conference,  been  associ- 
ated with  the  ministers  of  our  church,  and  particularly 
w^ith  thQ  one  who  last  went  to  his  rest.  Dr.  DeWitt. 
I  have  the  pleasure  to  introduce  to  you  the  Rev. 
Thomas  D.  Anderson,  I).  D.,  of  the  Baptist  Church." 


Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  '  8 1 


DR.  ANDERSON'S  ADDRESS. 


I  thank  }-ou,  Mr.  President,  for  taking  away  from  me  the 
somewhat  unpleasant  duty  of  referring  to  our  page  of  mar- 
tyrdom. 

Beloved  Brethren  in  Christ  : 

To  stand  on  the  rock  of  Plymouth  shore  first  touched 
by  the  foot  of  the  landing  Pilgrim ;  to  enter  the  hall  in  the 
old  State  House  at  Philadelphia,  where,  with  bold  but  reverend 
pens,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  signed ;  to  walk 
around  the  simple  tomb  by  the  side- of  the  Potomac  at  Mount 
Vernon,  where  quietly  sleeps  the  dust  of  Washington,  awak- 
ens, by  the  associations  surrounding  these  inanimate  objects, 
the  emotions  of  every  patriotic  heart. 

To  read  the  very  sentences  of  the  "  Compact "  drawn  up  in 
the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower,  moulding  the  elements  of  gov- 
ernment beneath  the  sanction  of  the  Almighty ;  to  dwell  on 
the  distinguishing  characteristic  in  the  charter  of  Providence 
Plantations,  according  to  every  man,  as  a  right,  religious 
freedom  ;  to  slowly  read  the  lines  of  the  original  document 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  that  blend  in  indis- 
soluble union  personal  liberty,  state  rights,  and  national  sov- 
ereignty, we  come  still  nearer,  as  the  communicated  thoughts 
possess  the  mind,  to  the  sources  of  those  ideas  which  have 
given  to  our  people  individualism,  to  our  communities  order, 
and  strength  to  our  nation.  In  either  case,  however,  we  touch 
not  life — in  the  former,  only  the  inanimate  object,  in  the 
latter,  impersonal  idea.  But  to-night,  in  reviewing  the  rise 
and  progress  of  Christianity  and  a  Christian  civilization  on 
our  Island  and  in  our  State,  our  contact  is  with  personal  life. 
One  living  orgauization  in  all  its  vigor  stands  before  us  that 


/ 


82  Qii art er- Millennial  Aimiversary  of  the 


has  spanned  the  entire  period  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
since  the  planting  of  the  Dutch  colony  at  New  Amsterdam 
until  the  present  evening.  We  are  not  called  to  tread,  within 
our  Battery,  on  the  consecrated  spot  where  early  stood  the 
church  within  the  fort ;  nor  to  decipher  the  venerable  parch- 
ments containing  the  symbols  of  this  ancient  body ;  but  we 
grasp  living  hands  which  have  been  joined  to  others  in  un- 
broken succession  from  that  day  to  this  ;  we  respond  to  the 
pulsations  of  the  "  eternal  life,"  transmitted  through  renewed 
hearts  from  those  first  believers  in  Christ,  until  they  throb 
against  our  own  in  the  breasts  of  these  brethren  whom  we 
are  here  convened  to  greet,  and  who  so  generously  share  with 
us  the  inspiration  of  this  memorial  hour. 

Gathering  up  the  faith  and  love,  the  impulses  and  achieve- 
ments, the  history  and  prophecy  of  all  these  years  as  they  are 
conserved  in  this  living  church  only  to  be  put  forth  again  a 
thousandfold  in  the  multiple  forms  of  Christian  activity,  have 
we  not,  brethren,  a  beautiful  image  of  the  Body  of  Christ  of 
which  He  is  the  Head  ? 

If,  of  the  multitudes  which,  from  the  vast  population  of  this 
metropolis,  have  come  to  bid  you  hail  on  this  quarter-millen- 
nial birthday,  all  are  not  of  your  own  household  of  faith, 
shall  it  be  thought  to  detract  aught  from  your  greatness, 
because  in  one  external  ecclesiastical  body  they  do  not  all 
bow  at  one  altar?  Conditioned  as  the  mind  is  in  our  present 
imperfect  state,  with  an  open  Bible  in  our  hands,  is  it  not  well 
that  all  outward  restraint  be  removed,  and  the  soul  be.  allowed, 
according  to  its  convictions,  to  shape  its  faith  and  practice  be- 
neath no  other  authority  than  that  of  God  ?  Is  it  not  to  the 
honor  of  2,  first  Church  that  around  it  others  have  arisen  to 
emulate  its  excellence  and  shai'e  its  sympathies  ?  Is  not  the 
strength  of  the  Collegiate  Church  greater,  sharing,  as  it  does, 
the  spontaneous  joy  in  her  prosperity  of  these  sister  denomi- 
nations, which  is  only  less  than  her  own,  and  aided  in  her 
efforts  by  their  fraternal  co-operation,  than  it  would  be  if  the 
monotony  of  an  imposed  unity  had  quenched  the  generous 
rivalries  of  different  churches  ?     It  may  well  be  considered  as 


Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  83 


an  additional  wreath  of  bays  around  your  brow,  that  Episco- 
pahans  and  Congregationahsts,  Presbyterians  and  Baptists, 
Reformed  and  Methodists,  ask  the  privilege  of  laying  their 
tribute  of  love  and  prayer  on  your  altar  to-night  as  a  testi- 
mony to  the  oneness  in  Christ  of  all  believers,  which,  in  your 
kindly  relations  to  other  churches,  you  have  so  beautifully 
illustrated. 

I  have  been  selected  to  represent  our  denomination,  not 
from  any  special  fitness  for  the  service  beyond  the  possession 
of  a  heart  most  deeply  to  appreciate  it,  but  because  I  have 
the  honor  to  be  the  pastor  of  our  oldest  church  in  this  city, 
which,  now  through  me  in  behalf  of  all  of  like  views,  extends 
its  hand  of  fellowship  and  of  cheer. 

Our  Church  has  lived  by  your  side  for  more  than  half  of 
your  long  lifetime,  and,  therefore,  we  have  a  right  to  speak  with 
some  authority  when  we  testify  our  liking  for  you.  We  like 
your  conservatism,  for  amid  necessary  changes  we  can  have  no 
progress,  unless  we  hold  fast  that  ^\hich  is  good.  You  hold, 
doubtless,  in  your  creed  some  articles  from  which  we  dissent. 
But  while  you  hold  them  as  convictions  prayerfully  drawn 
from  the  Bible,  our  common  standard,  we  would  be,  not  only 
ungenerous,  but  untrue  to  our  most  dearly-cherished  princi- 
ples if  w^e  withheld  our  honor  from  your  steadfastness.  Still 
further  w^e  honor  you,  not  merely  for  holding  your  convictions, 
but  also  for  maintaining  inviolate  the  order  by  ^\hich  provis- 
ion is  made  to  have  them  statedly  presented  to  your  congre- 
gations, that  they  may  be  thoroughly  furnished  for  every  good 
work.  Against  indifferentism  and  the  wayward  liberality  of 
the  age,  we  honor  your  conservatism. 

W^e  like  yowr  fa ci/e  practicalness.  What  is  to  be  done  seems 
to  meet  with  all  instrumentalities  ready  at  hand,  M'ithout  en- 
grafting on  the  system  questionable  and  untried  de\^ices. 
Although  we  are  taught  to  believe  that  no  church  has  a 
stauncher  order,  yet  nothing  stands  in  the  way  of  the  freest 
engagement  in  all  true  enterprises  for  the  moral  and  spiritual 
improvement  of  men.  Indeed,  your  ecclesiastical  system  ap- 
pears to  us  outsiders  never  to  feel  a  strain  while  it  gracefully 


84  Quarter- Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


bends  to  all  the  requirements  of  Christian  benevolence  through 
all  its  manifold  workings.     In  this  facile  comprehensiveness 
'  there  seems  to  be  a  place  for  every  temperament,  for  every 
order  of  talent,  and  for  every  grade  of  ministration. 

We  honor  you  above  all  for  that  ricli  evangelical  vein  that 
runs  through  the  writings  of  your  authors,  through  the  ser- 
mons of  your  preachers,  and  through  all  the  agencies  you  use 
for  the  advancement  of  Christ's  kingdom.  It  is  this  which 
qualifies  the  Dutch  Church  to  work  so  harmoniously  in  union 
efforts  when  those  efforts  have  for  their  object  only  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  well-being  of  man.  For  these  things,  with 
others  not  named,  we,  as  Baptists,  honor  you.  Yet,  while 
frankly  expressing  our  regard,  we  lay  no  claim  to  a  monopoly 
of  the  esteem  which  I  am  sure  is  held  by  us  in  common  with 
the  other  Christian  denominations. 

Apparently,  casual  circumstances  often  hold  within  them 
prophecy  and  symbol.  The  church  within  the  fort,  provided 
as  one  of  the  earliest  resting-places  for  Jehovah  Shammah  on 
this  Island,  bears  to  my  mind  such  a  significance.  Let  the 
fort  stand  for  the  State,  and  the  inclosed  tabernacle  for  God 
with  us,  and  by  this  piece  of  heraldry  we  are  taught  that  the 
stability  of  the  State  is  secured  only  as  within  her  borders 
God  abides.  He  only  is  the  strong  tower,  the  entrenched 
citadel  into  which  the  nation  can  resort  for  safety.  Walls,  and 
battlements,  and  the  ocean  are  a  defence  only  when  they  offer 
their  homage  to  Jehovah  Jireh.  Is  the  fort  the  nucleus  of  the 
State,  through  whose  openings  along,  the  avenues  .of  com- 
merce, population,  trade,  education,  and  government  she  will 
project  her  future  forces?  Along  with  all  these,  as  from  a 
vital  centre,  must  radiate  the  influences  of  Immanuel. 

Is  it  too  much  to  say  that  by  some  invisible  guide  this 
people  have  been  taught  to  read  the  prophecy  of  the  church 
within  the  fort,  and  to  follow  its  teachings  along  the  line  of 
their  history?  So,  at  first,  they  sanctified  by  worship  the 
beginnings  of  the  State ;  so  they  dedicated  the  commerce  of 
the  week  to  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  for  the-  earth  is  the 
Lord's,  and  the  fulness  thereof;  so  from  the  fort  they  accom- 


Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Cliiinh.  85 

panietl  population  from  the  Battery  to  Garden  street,  to  Lib- 
erty street,  to  Fulton  street,  to  Lafayette  Place,  to  Twenty-ninth 
street,  to  Forty-eighth  street,  flanking  their  march  uptown  by 
chapels,  Sunday  and  industrial  schools,  and  missions  on  the 
right  and  left,  that  there  might  be  none  to  say  in  this  crowded 
city,  "  No  man  careth  for  my  soul." 

When  the  language  of  Manhattan  changed,  with  the  gov- 
ernment, from  the  Dutch  to  the  English,  the  vital  spirit  of  the 
church  within  the  fort  transferred  the  same  glorious  Gospel 
from  the  sonorous  speech  of  Holland  to  the  English  vernacu- 
lar through  the  ministries  of  the  sainted  Laidlie  and  Living- 
ston. When  trade  usurped  the  dwellings  of  home,  the 
informing  Christianity  must  not  be  driven  from  its  central 
position.  It  entered  the  busy  mart,  and  at  the  hour  of  high 
noon,  in  the  heart  of  traffic,  true  to  this  prophecy,  the  prayer- 
meeting  was  enshrined,  the  Fulton  Street  Prayer-meeting  that 
has  offered  up  before  the  Throne  the  prayers  of  a  world. 
Ever  may  this  church  continue  a  centre  of  spiritual  power, 
not  alone  upon  this  Island,  but  throughout  this  nation.  Such 
is  the  prophecy  whose  lessons  have  been  so  well  learned  and 
followed  by  the  Collegiate  Church. 

When  the  State  shall  ha^■e  passed  away,  and  instead  of  this 
earthly  metropolis  "  the  holy  city,  the  new^  Jerusalem,"  will 
come  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  prepared  as  a  bride 
adorned  for  her  husband,  although  there  will  be  no  commerce, 
for  there  shall  be  no  sea ;  although  the  gates  shall  not  be 
closed,  for  there  shall  be  no  night  there ;  although  the  minis- 
tries of  relief  will  be  ended,  for  there  shall  be  no  more  pain ; 
although  the  sun  and  moon  shall  withdraw  their  light  because 
of  the  glory  of  the  Lamb ;  and  although  in  the  midst  of  this 
four-squared  city,  with  its  walls  of  jasper,  its  foundation  of 
precious  stones,  and  its  gates  of  pearl,  there  shall  be  no  tem- 
ple;'  when  the  assembled  multitudes,  the  one  hundred  forty 
and  four  thousand,  with  the  innumerable  company  which  no 
man  can  number,  shall  hear  the  voice  out  of  heaven  saying, 
"  The  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  He  will  dwell 
among  them,  and  they  shall  be  His  people,  and  God  Himself 


86  Quarter- Alillcnnial  Auiiivcrsarv  of  the 


shall  be  with  them  and  be  their  God,"  then  and  there,  beloved 
brethren,  shall  we  behold,  with  admiring  gratitude,  the  radiant 
glory  of  our  earthly  emblem,,"  The  Church  within  the  Fort." 


Refonncd  Protcstcmt  Dutch  Church.  87 


Here  the  congregation  united  in  singing  Bishop 
Heber's  fine  anthem,  founded  on  the  Trisagion,  after 
which  the  chairman  said  : 

"  The  next  speaker  on  the  hst  is  from  the  youngest 
of  the  great  Protestant  communities  of  our  country. 
It  is  not  much  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago  when 
a  Methodist  minister  landed  in  this  city  and  set  up 
his  banner  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  and  when  we 
think  of  what  resulted  from  that  venture,  the  aggres- 
siveness, the  fiery  zeal,  and  the  wondrous  success 
which  attended  the  efforts  of  those  brethren,  we  are 
reminded  of  the  verse  of  Bishop  Berkeley : 

'  Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last.' 

The  brother  who  has  kindly  consented  to  represent 
that  communion  on  this  occasion  was  the  pupil  of 
Durbin  and  McClintock,  and  well  holds  up  the  banner 
which  they  unfurled.  I  have  the  pleasure  of  intro- 
ducing to  you  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany,  of  St.  Paul's 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church." 


Rcfoinicd  ProtcstcDit  Dutch  Chunk.  89 


DR.  TIFFANY'S  ADDRESS. 


Fathers  and  Brethren  : 

At  the  close  of  the  very  interesting  and  admirable  discourse 
to  which  we  listened  this  afternoon,  when  my  name  was 
announced  in  the  list  of  speakers  for  the  evening,  a  clergyman 
who  sat  next  to  me  asked,  "  And  what  relations  have  you  to 
the  Dutch  Church  ?"  This  question  I  now  propose  to  an- 
swer by  saying  that  I  belong  to  a  Church  which,  though  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  younger,  has  had  many  similar  ex- 
periences, and  has  providentially  adopted  many  of  the  same 
methods.  I  think  it  may  be  of  interest  to  you  to  know  some 
facts  which  may  have  hitherto  escaped  your  observation. 

The  one  hundred  and  forty-three  years,  from  1623  to  1776, 
exactly  represent  the  interval  between  the  arrival  in  this 
country  of  your  "  krank-besoekers "  from  the  Netherlands 
and  our  "  class-leaders."  from  Ireland.  These  men  performed 
similar  duties  in  each  church  ;  in  the  absence  of  clergymen 
they  visited  the  sick,  read  and  expounded  the  Bible,  and  ex- 
horted men  to  Christian  duty  and  the  activities  of  a  Christian 
life.  Your  "  krank-besoekers  "  met  in  a  room  over  a  horse- 
mill, ;  our  "class-leaders"  met  in  a  sail-loft.  Last  month  we 
celebrated  the  one  hundred  and  tenth  anniversary  of  the  dedi- 
cation of  our  first  meeting-house  in  John  street,  and  I  felt 
quite  a  veneration  for  our  antiquity  until  I  came  under  the 
shadow  of  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
Dutch  Church.  Though  so  long  an  interval  separates  the 
organization  of  our  churches,  yet  I  find  that  history  repeats 
itself,  and  we  have  many  things  in  common.  Each  church 
was  felt  to  be  a  necessity,  and  the  abundant  fruitage  harvested 
by  each  justifies  the  wisdom  of  its  separate  existence.  Both 
were  born  in  the  throes  of  a  spiritual  revival,  and  both  were, 


go  Quartcr-MillciDiial  Anniversary  of  tJic 

in  some  sense,  nursed  in  persecutions,  for  the  title,  "The 
Church  of  the  Netherlands  under  the  Cross,''  had  a  meaning 
in  the  sixteenth  century  not  unlike  that  attached  to  the  term 
"Methodist"  in  the  seventeenth.  You  took  the  fields  for 
your  pulpits  a  century  before  Whitefield  and  Wesley  were 
compelled  to  resort  to  them,  by  reason  of  the  circumstances 
which  surrounded  them.  Your  hymns  of  praise  and  songs 
of  salvation  were  sung  in  full  voice  by  the  congregation  of 
worshippers  long  before  God  raised  up  Charles  Wesley  to  be 
the  sweet  Psalmist  of  our  modern  Israel.  You  have  always 
had  authorized,  but  not  obligatory  forms  for  public  service. 
If  I  read  aright  the  motto  on  the  shield  of  the  old  North 
Church,  and  "  dando  conseiiuit"  is  an  expression  of  your  finan- 
cial policy,  it  is  only  a  more  classic  expression  of  the  plan  of 
John  Wesley,  who  built  chapels  and  carried  on  his  work  by 
means  of  "  a  penny  a  week  and  a  shilling  a  quarter  "  from 
each  member  of  his  societies.  Your  plan  of  rotation  in  the 
pulpits  of  the  Collegiate  Churches  we  have  enlarged  into  an 
itinerancy  which  belts  the  globe. 

But  you  adopted  the  Calvinistic'  interpretation  of  God's 
Book,  and  we  the  Arminian.  You,  for  reasons  clearly  set 
forth  this  afternoon,  largely  limited  your  activities  to  the 
neighborhood  of  your  first  planting,  and  have  in  consequence 
built  up  a  solid  character  and  a  robust  conservatism,  while  we 
have  taken  a  wider  range,  are  less  conservative  and  sedate, 
more  open  to  the  charge  of  sensationalism,  because  we  have 
been  more  largely  moulded  by  the  spirit  of  the  age.  and  the 
genius  of  more  modern  institutions.  And  so,  as  we  come 
to-night  and  sit  among  you,  the  youngest  of  your  guests,  we 
offer  you  our  hearty  greeting,  with  genuine  appreciation  of 
your  steadfast  adherence  to  your  principles  and  an  honest 
admiration  of  your  vigorous  age. 

The  service  of  to-night,  however,  impresses  me  more  in  its 
bearing  on  the  future  than  in  its  relation  to  the  past,  for  while, 
in  a  just  sense,  it  is  the  culmination  of  a  period  in  history,  in 
another  it  is  the  opening  of  a  field  for  prophecy.-  And  as,  in 
your  admirable  and  felicitous  introduction,  Mr.  President,  you 


Rcfonncd  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  91 

have  s{Dokcn  of  the  gentlenieii  who  ha\'e  precetled  me  as  repre- 
sentatives of  oklen  times  and  okler  ehurehes,  aiul  of  me  so 
kindly  as  a  younger  member  of  a  younger  church,  let  me,  now 
that  the  old  men  have  told  the  dreams  which  they  have  dreamt, 
tell  of  the  vision  which  tliis  night  suggests.  The  invitation 
of  the  oldest  Church  to  all  the  younger  branches,  and  the 
hearty  response  given  to  these  invitations  by  the  presence  of 
so  many  notable  men  from  all  the  churches;  the  coming  to- 
gether on  this  platform  of  so  many  men  who  represent  so 
many  phases  of  belief  and  so  many  forms  of  worship,  is  to 
me  an  indication  that  Christian  forces  are  answering  Christ's 
prayer  for  the  unity  of  His  disciples.  It  indicates  that  the 
days  of  exclusion  and  separation  are  giving  way  to  days  of 
fraternization  and  brotherhood.  Union  takes  the  place  of 
controversy ;  the  theological  champions  and  disputants  are 
retiring  within  their  appropriate  spheres,  the  schools  and 
seminaries ;  and  the  churches  are  ceasing  to  dispute,  and  are  vic- 
ing with  each  other  in  love -and  good  works.  The  contro- 
versialist of  the  former  days  was  the  product  of  an  age  when 
a  man  was  mighty  according  to  the  thickness  of  the  trees 
against  which  he  lifted'up  his  axe;  he  has  no  more  a  place 
for  his  denunciations,  nor  an  audience  for  his  declamation. 
In  an  advanced  light  men  have  been  able  to  recognize  the 
hidden  good  which  underlies  apparent  errors.  Beneath 
the  differentials  of  creeds  and  formulas  there  is  an  integral 
binding  principle  of  life.  As  a  humanness  underlies  all  the 
varieties  of  tribe  and  race,  linking  men  to  (xod  and  .to  each 
other,  so  a  divineness  of  consecrated  living  forms  links  of 
union  among  men  of  varied  creeds;  a  principle  of  "  natural 
selection  "  formulated  by  Christianity  centuries  ago,  when  it 
constituted  fraternal  love  the  test  of  discipleship,  saying: 
"  We'know  that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life  because 
we  love  the  brethren." 

It  may  be,  Mr.  President,  that  in  these  past  days  we  have 
all  builded  unwisely,  even  though  each  one's  honest  effort  has 
been  to  reproduce  his  idea  of  the  pattern  shown  him  in  his 
mountain  of  communion  ;  each  building  to  exhibit   his   own 


92  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 

interpretation  of  God's  plan.  Sometimes,  mayhap,  we  have 
built  over  against  one  another.  Sometimes  there  has  been 
in  one  hand  a  sword  for  destruction,  while  the  other  held  a 
trowel  for  construction ;  but  at  best  we  have  erected  only 
individual  columns,  which,  however  beautiful  in  our  own  eyes, 
scarcely  realize  Christ's  ideal  by  which  the  world  was  to  be 
convinced.  May  not  these  individual  pedestals  and  columns 
be  united  by  a  girder  of  Christian  activity  and  brotherhood, 
and  surmounted  by  a  dome  of  Christian  thought  and  scholar- 
ship, so  that  each  one's  best  work  shall  be  found  to  consist  in 
its  being  part  of  an  holy  temple  in  the  Lord ;  Jesus  Christ 
himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone  on  which  the  apostles 
and  prophets  have  built  as  a  foundation  ? 

We  heard  this  afternoon  the  wonderful  announcement  "  that 
a  rigid  Calvinist  would  not  invalidate  his  orthodoxy  if  he 
believed  that  an  Arminian  might  be  saved."  After  this  pro- 
digious step  in  advance,  is  it  unreasonable  to  hope  for  a  day 
when,  if  the  wolf  and  the  lamb  may  not  actually  dwell  to- 
gether, and  the  leopard  lie  down  with  the  kid,  and  the  calf 
and  the  young  lion  and  the  fatling  together,  yet  an  Arminian 
and  a  Calvinist  may  walk  arm  in  arm,  and  be  closely  followed 
by  priest  with  presbyter,  and  the  procession  be  enlarged  by 
two  agreeing  bishops,  though  one  of  them  may  have  received 
his"  office  by  the  holding  up  of  hands  in  election,  and  the  other 
by  the  laying  on  of  hands  in  consecration ;  and  all  these  be 
seeking  for  some  gathering,  be  it  conference,  convention, 
council,  consistory,  synod,  classis,  or  assembly,  where  the  only 
shibboleth  for  admission  shall  be  "  supreme  love  to  God,  and 
corresponding  love  to  the  brethren." 

And  now  Mr.  President,  so  far  as  I  may  presume  to  repre- 
sent the  Church  of  which  I  am  a  member,  I  say,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  one  of  old  :  "  The  Lord  God  of  your  fathers  make 
you  a  thousand  times  so  many  more  as  ye  are,  and  bless  you, 
as  He  hath  promised  you." 


Refonned  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  93 


When  Dr.  Tiffany  had  conckided,  Dr.  Chambers 
said  : 

"  The  last  speaker  on  our  programme  belongs  to  a 
body  which  is  at  once  the  oldest  and  the  youngest. 
It  is  the  oldest,  because  in  New  Encjland  its  origin 
was  coeval  with  our  own,  and  yet  the  youngest,  be- 
cause it  was  within  the  present  century,  indeed,  some 
distance  in  it,  that  it  made  a  permanent  lodgment 
upon  this  Island.  The  relations  between  the  Dutch 
Church  and  the  Congregationalists  have  not  always 
been  pleasant.  Whoever  reads  the  history  of  the 
first  hundred  or  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  set- 
tlement at  Plymouth  and  on  this  Island  will  see  rec- 
ords of  questions  which  were  sometimes  very  ardently 
prosecuted  as  to  conflicting  jurisdiction ;  and  I  re- 
member to  have  heard  the  story  which,  no  doubt,  is 
authentic,  that  a  gigantic  rooster,  such  as  used  to  be 
placed  upon  the  top  of  the  steeples  of  our  churches 
down  in  the  Fort,  was  always  found  pointing,  no  mat- 
ter from  which  direction  the  wind  came,  toward  the 
East.  It  scented  danger  from  that  quarter.  But 
these  are  reminiscences  of  the  past.  We  bring  them 
up   to   smile   at  them.     Now,   cordiality,  friendliness, 


p4  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 


mutual  regard,  the  strongest  desire  for  each  other's 
welfare  and  co-operation  in  efforts  for  that  one  cause 
to  which  we  are  all  sworn,  bind  us  closely  together. 
The  brother  who  is  to  speak  to  us  needs  no  introduc- 
tion. Although  his  residence  is  beyond  the  East 
River,  and  another  city  claims  him  as  its  ornament, 
yet  so  often  have  audiences  in  New  York  as  numerous 
as  this,  and  more  so,  been  chained  by  his  words  of 
eloquence  and  wisdom,  that  I  need  only  mention  his 
name,  the  Rev.  Richard  S.  Storrs,  D.D.,  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  whom  I  now  have  the  pleasure 
to  introduce." 


Rcfornicd  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  95 


REV.  DR.  STORRS'S  ADDRESS. 


l\fy  Christian  I'ricntis  : 

It  is  not,  I  think,  altogether  to  the  discredit  of  the  Congrega- 
tional communion,  that  it  has  been  planted  in  this  great  city- 
more  rccentl)^  than  the  others,  the  representatives  of  which 
have  spoken  to  us  so  eloquently  this  evening.  Dr.  Chambers  was 
mistaken,  I  am  sure,  in  the  inference  which  he  naturally  drew 
from  the  attitude  of  that  historical  rooster.  He  was  up  there 
looking  out  for  recruits  !  Our  churches,  at  Plymouth,  if  not  at 
Salem,  began  earlier  than  yours,  but  for  centuries  Congrega- 
tionalism was  so  interested  in  the  progress  and  success  of  other 
communions  that  whenever  it  sent  any  of  its  representatives 
to  New  York,  it  sent  them  under  a  sort  of  implicit  pledge  to 
become  either  Dutchmen  or  Presbyterians.  Our  friend  Dr. 
Bethune  used  to  say — ^'did  say  once,  certainly,  in  commenting 
upon  a  speech  from  some  one  who,  as  he  thought,  had  un- 
duly exalted  his  own  denomination — that  he  felt  bound  in 
justice  to  his  own  Church  to  declare  that  he  presumed  that  in 
heaven  all  Christians  would  be  Reformed  Dutchmen.  How  it 
may  be  in  heaven  I  do  not  know,  but  a  great  many  Congrega- 
tional Christians  have  come  to  be  Reformed  Dutchmen  when 
they  came  to  New  York.  When  you  have  had  a  promising 
young  man  born  and  bred  here,  of  whom  you  wanted  to  make 
a  pillar  and  an  ornament  in  the  Church,  you  sent  him  to  New 
England.  We  Congregationalists  have  taken  him  and  put  him 
in  ont  of  our  churches,  for  five  or  six  years,  and  then  sent  him 
back  to  you  to  do  grand  service,  by  eloquence  and  by  character: 
like  your  venerable  senior  pastor,  Dr.  Vermilye.  We  did  the 
same  thing  with  Dr.  Rogers;  and  if  }ou  have  got  any  more 
such  young  men,  send  them  along,  and  we  \\\\\  fit  them  for 
your  Collegiata  pulpits  ! 


96  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  tJie 


It  is  very  delightful  to  me,  my  Friends,  to  stand  here  this 
evening,  if  only  to  renew  the  associations  of  my  heart  with 
those  men  whom  I  have  known,  and  honored,  and  loved,  in  the 
pulpits  of  this  Collegiate  Church,  and  in  the  other  pulpits  of 
the  same  communion  in  this  city,  with  whom  in  my  earlier 
or  later  ministry  I  was  familiar,  who  have  passed  now  into  the 
heavens.  I  remember  well  those  men  to  whom  reference 
has  been  made — Dr.  Knox,  Dr.  Brownlee,  and  Dr.  DeWitt, 
clear  and  venerable  names  !  Dr.  Milledoler  had  not  ceased 
from  his  labor  upon  the  earth,  though  he  had  closed  his  min- 
istry ;  I  remember  him  as  graceful  and  beautiful,  Dr.  Brodhead 
as  majestic  and  charming,  in  old  age.  Dr.  Dwight  of  the  First 
Dutch  Church  of  Brooklyn,  the  successor  of  Polhemus  and 
Selyns,  officiated  in  an  important  service  at  my  installa- 
tion in  my  church  there,  thirty-two  years  ago  this  week.  I 
never  think  without  fon'd  remembrance  of  his  beautiful  face,  of 
his  courtesy  of  manner,  of  his  tender  interest  in  all  good  men 
and  good  things,  and  of  the  prayer  on  which  that  evening  he 
lifted  us  all  toward  the  heavens.  And  the  wit,  the  poet,  the 
accomplished  scholar,  the  careful  theologian,  the  eloquent 
orator,  the  devout  and  adoring  Christian,  Dr.  Bethune,  whose 
funeral  I  attended  in  this  very  church  sixteen  years  ago,  was  for 
years  my  nearest  neighbor,  almost,  and  among  my  most  inti- 
mate friends.  I  cannot  but  think  if  he  were  here  to-night,  to 
utter  his  kindling  and  lofty  thought,  in  his  impassioned  elo- 
quence, with  his  voice  that  spoke  like  a  harp  and  rung  like  a 
trumpet — if  he  were  here  to-night,  to  utter  his  love  and  venera- 
tion for  the  Chwrch  to  which  his  manhood  and  his  age  had 
been  given,  and  in  which  his  heart  was  garnered  up,  how  silent 
our  lips  would  be  !  and  how  our  hearts  would  throb  within  us  ! 

These  have  gone  into  the  heavens.  Ah  !  yes,  but  they  are 
the  representatives  to  us,  let  us  not  forget,  of  all  who  have 
ascended  with  them,  in  the  history  of  this  Church  for  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years.  Back  to  the  forest  and  the  swamp, 
back  to  the  days  of  the  tomahawk  and  the  Indian  bow,  of  the 
wampum  and  the  birch  canoe,  this  history  carries  us.  How 
many  have  gone  up,  through  the  ministry  of  truth  here,  rising 


Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  97 


on  the  wings  of  praj'er  and  adoration  on  earth,  and  then  rising 
with  the  angehc  cohorts  in  the  heavens,  whose  thought  may 
be  with  us  to-night !  The  mountains  are  full  of  the  radiant 
presence.  More  arc  they  that  ha\e  ascended  than  they  who 
tarry.  The  greater,  the  nobler,  and  the  lovelier  company  is 
on  high.  Ah  !  my  Friends,  the  church  on  earth  and  that 
above  but  one  communion  make;  and  it  is  beautiful  to  stand 
here,  in  that  communion,  and  to  feel  ourselves  surrounded  and 
over-watched  by  this  great  cloud  of  witnesses,  by  this  celestial 
company  ! 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  years.  Yet,  as  I  have  sat  here  this 
evening,  I  have  been  thinking,  my  Friends,  how  small  a  part  of 
the  real  history  that  is  !  How  the  roots  of  this  history  run  back, 
far  beyond  that,  into  a  grand  and  heroic  preceding  age.  The 
history  of  the  Church  in  Holland,  of  which  this  was  here  the 
earliest  representative,  is  the  most  illustrious  and  sublime 
history  of  modern  Europe.  The  communion  w^ith  which  I 
have  been  associated,  in  all  my  public  life,  sprang  from  a 
parallel  movement  in  England,  but  it  never  was  marked  by 
the  same  heroic  endurance,  the  same  frequent  sacrifice  unto 
martyrdom,  w4iich  was 'familiar  in  the  Church  in  Holland.  I 
remember  what  the  historian  tells  us,  of  the  18,000  whom 
Alva  burned  or  butchered  or  buried  alive,  to  trample  out  the 
Reformed  religion  in  the  Netherlands.  I  remember  the 
massacres  at  Antwerp,  at  Naarden ;  and  I  say  again  that  there 
is  no  page  in  the  history  of  modern  Europe  so  magnificent 
as  that. 

It  was  true  of  the  Dutch  Church,  as  it  has  somewhere  been 
said  of  Christianity  itself,  that  it  sprang  up  under  the  axe,  it 
flourished  in  the  blast,  and  it  blossomed  in  the  flame.  It  had 
a  grand  renown,  back  of  New  Amsterdam,  back  of  this  conti- 
nent, and  of  the  ocean  before  us.  You  trace  your  lineage 
to  the  most  royal  workers  and  champions  of  the  truth  in 
modern  times.  No  wonder  you  cherish  that  magnificent 
renown !  It  is  a  sublime  inheritance.  And  standing  here 
to-night,  with  the  thought  which  the  last  brother  has  suggest- 
ed, that   this    occasion  looks  forward  as  well  as  backward, 


98  Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary  of  the 

we  certainly,  representatives  of  other  communions,  can  ask  for 
you  no  greater  blessing,  no  richer  endowment  of  God,  than 
that  the  same  sublime  qualities  which  were  illustrated  in  that 
history  may  continue  in  you  and  in  your  children  to  the  end 
of  time — the  same  constancy  of  faith,  the  same  sovereign 
devotion,  in  the  gospel  of  God. 

We  have  heard  to-night,  and  it  has  been  truly  said,  that 
this  Church  has  been  conservative  of  the  truth.  It  could  not 
have  been  otherwise,  without  being  supremely  unfaithful  to  its 
illustrious  history.  It  was  not  a  gospel  of  "mush"  and 
nonsense  for  which  men  met  death  with  untrembling  hearts, 
and  women  submitted  to  be  buried  alive.  It  was  a  gospel 
with  not  one  prophecy  too  many,  pointing  forward  to  the 
coming  of  the  Lord,  with  not  one  miracle  too  many,  to 
illustrate  His  divine  power  and  supremacy — a  gospel  in  which 
was  the  offer  of  forgiveness  through  the  atonement,  and  of 
purification  by  the  Holy.  Ghost,  and  a  heavenly  promise  for 
those  who  received  it. 

Carry  on  that  gospel,  so  majestic,  and  glorious,  and  divine, 
appealing  so  powerfully  and  vividly  'to  the  faith  of  the  fathers, 
into  your  subsequent  history  as  a  church  ;  and  it  shall  be  the 
power  of  God,  upon  you  and  with  you,  for  all  the  centuries ! 
Carry  on,  as  well,  their  spirit  of  self-sacrifice. 

'Churches  grow  by  self-consecration.  That  motto  I  remem- 
ber which  Dr.  Tiffany  has  referred  to — "  daiido  conscrvat :  "  the 
church  stands  and  grows  by  giving.  The  church  comes  to 
be  what  it  ought  to  be  by  communicating.  The  feryent  mis- 
sionary zeal  of  the  Church  in  Holland  was  one  great  secret 
of  its  magnificent  rise  and  power.  Men  like  your  missionaries, 
Scudder,  Abeel,  beloved  disciples,  going  to  carry  the  gospel 
to  the  heathen  on  distant  shores,  are  working  for  your  en- 
largement, for  your  permanent  continuance,  as  truly  and  as 
effectively  as  though  they  were  at  home. 

Carry  on  the  same  spirit  which  was  in  the  fathers,  of  love 
for  liberty  and  for  learning.  We  remember  that  splendid 
example  given  by  the  citizens  of  Leyden,  when  after  their 
heroic   endurance  of  the   siege,  in  reward  or  recompense   of 


Rcfonncd  Protestant  Dutch  Church.  99 


their  \-alor  and  patience,  they  were  permitted  to  take  tlieir 
choice  between  the  remission  of  a  certain  heavy  and  perpetual 
tax.  or  the  estabhshment  of  a  University.  Now,  I  don't  know, 
I  won't  undertake  to  ,say,  what  the  citizens  of  New  York 
would  do  if  such  a  proposition  were  made  to  them  ;  but  the 
citizens  of  Leyden,  hunger-bitten,  famine-stricken,  sta<:^<^ering 
in  their  wan  and  wasted  frames  along  the  streets  that  had  been 
smitten  as  by  the  blast  of  fire  in  that  terrific  siege,  chose  the 
University.  All  honor  to  the  memory  of  their  wisdom  and 
nobleness !  I  remember,  too,  that  in  the  hall,  I  think,  of 
the  University  at  Utrecht,  around  the  dome  were  placed  or 
planned  words  which  declared  that  "  the  seat  of  learning  is 
the  natural  cradle  of  liberty." 

Yes,  it  is  true  that  the  hall  of  human  wisdom  has  been  the 
cradle  of  liberty,  there  and  elsewhere.  It  is  for  us  joyfully 
to  remember  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  written 
by  our  fathers,  caught  its  spirit,  and  even  its  terms,  in  part, 
from  the  Declaration  of  Independence  signed  at  the  Hague  in 
1581  ;  and  that  the  union  of  the  American  colonies  followed 
closely  the  example  of  the  union  of  Utrecht,  which'  was  the 
corner-stone  of  the  Netherland  Republic. 

As  long  as  this  sovereign  constancy  to  the  gospel,  as  long 
as  this  sublime  .spirit  of  consecration,  fortitude,  and  self-sac- 
rifice, as  long  as  this  love  of  learning  and  of  liberty  com- 
bined, remain  in  the  Dutch  Church,  its  future  is  secure. 
Wealthy  or  poor,  numerous  or  few,  that  makes  no  difference. 
The  church  which  has  these  elements  within  it,  and  which 
does  its  work  in  the  inspiration  of  them,  is  the  Church  of  the 
Future  in  America. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  years  !  How  utterl)'  incredible,  how 
inconceivable,  this  cit)'  would  have  seemed  to  those  who 
founded  this  church  in  its  feebleness  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  looking  out  from  the  fort  of  which  Dr.  Anderson 
has  told  us ;  seeing  in  prophetic  vision  these  vast  avenues, 
these  populous  squares,  these  thundering  trains  along  the 
streets — this  city  sweeping  upward  and  outward,  eastward, 
northward,  westward,  and  on  every  hand,  and  already  beating 


100  Qiiarter-Miilennial  Anniversary  of  the 


with  the  tread  of  milhons  of  feet — incredible,  indeed  !  They 
could  not  have  conceived  it.  How  little  can  you  and  I  con- 
ceive what  this  city  is  to  be,  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  in 
the  future !  what  millions  of  population  are  to  be  gathered 
in  it !  how  its  piers  are  to  throb  with  the  commerce  of  the 
world,  crowding  against  them  !  how  its  influences  are  to  go 
out  over  all  the  land,  and  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  !  The  same 
faith  in  the  gospel,  the  same  constancy,  fidelity,  and  self-sacri- 
fice, the  same  love  for  liberty  and  for  learning,  and  the  same 
hospitality  toward  other  communions,  which  were  the  glory  of 
this  Church  in  its  earlier  life,  and  have  been  ever  since,  will 
give  to  that  city  of  the  Future  influences  that  shall  keep  it 
pure  and  make  it  purer,  and  will  give  to  the  semi-millen- 
nial anniversary  of  this  Church  a  glory  that  we  cannot 
prefigure,  and  can  only  vaguely  anticipate.     God  grant  it ! 

I  remember  the  inscription  on  the  monument  of  the  great 
Admiral  Van  Tromp,  in  the  old  church  at  Delft,  written  in 
Latin,  the  close  of  which  may,  perhaps,  be  not  unfairly  trans- 
lated thus  :  "  At  last,  in  battle  with  the  English,  himself  un- 
conquered,  if  not  the  victor,  he  cease'd  at  the  same  moment  to 
triumph  and  to  live."  I  hope  that  the  epitaph  of  this  Dutch 
Church  never  will  be  written,  while  the  continent  stands ;  but 
when  it  is  written,  or  spoken,  in  the  last  consummation,  when 
the-  Lord  himself  appears  in  the  air,  I  trust  it  may  be  said,  and 
truly  said  of  it,  that  if  not  itself  the  conqueror  over  all  forms 
of  sin,  it  was  itself  unconquered,  and  that  it  ceased  to  triumph 
for  the  Master  only  when  it  ceased  to  live ! 


Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church. 


lOl 


^\^  jSurrpssion  of  "JPasfops. 


1628-1878. 


Jonas  Michaelius, 
everardus  bogardus, 
Johannes  Backerus, 
Joannes  Megapolensis,     - 
Samuel  Megapolensis, 
Wilhelmus  Van  Niewenhuvsen, 
Henricus  Selyns, 

GUALTERUS    DU    BoiS, 

Henricus  Boel,    -         -     '    - 

Joannes  Ritzema,    -         -         - 

LambeTrtus  De  Ronde, 

Archibald  Laidlie,    ■ 

John  Henry  Livingston, 

William  Linn, 

Gerardus  Arense  Kuypers, 

John  Neilson  Abeel 

John  Schureman, 

Jacob  Brodhead,     -         -         - 

Philip  Milledoler, 

John  Knox,      _         -         .         - 

Paschal  Nelson  Strong, 

William  Craig  Brownlee, 

Thom-as  De  Witt, 

Thomas  Edward  Vermilye,     - 

Talbot  Wilson  Chambers, 

Joseph  Tuthill  Duryea, 

James  Meeker  Ludlow, 

William  Ormiston, 


circa. 


1628- 

633 

1633- 

647 

1647- 

649 

1649- 

669 

1664- 

668 

I67I- 

682 

I682-] 

701 

1 699-] 

751 

I7I3- 

754 

I744-] 

784 

I75I- 

784 

1764- 

779 

i77c^] 

812 

1785-] 

805 

1 789-] 

833 

1795-] 

812 

1 809- 

811 

1809-] 

813 

1813- 

825 

1816- 

L858 

1816- 

825 

1826-] 

860 

1827- 

874 

I  8  -JO 

'c>39 

T  S/IO 

1049 

1862- 

[867 

I868-] 

877 

1870- 

Reformed  Protcsta)it  Dutch  C/tiiirh.  103 


t$\\c  cnsuinc)  .Jj>tanza8,  t'i;oni  the  t■cr^tilc  and  graceful  pen  of  ttlilliam 

l^')land  Bourne,  35sq.,  ariC  tahen  frjOm  tlic  columns  of  the 

"  (fhr^istian    Intellicjcnccr  "     of     the    u'cch 

foUoujing  the  celebration  : 


j^ninn. 


S:tggested  by  the   Tiuo  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Collegiate  Church.  City 
0/  Neiv   York,    Thursday,  Norember  2  rst,  1S7S. 


God  of  our  Fathers  I    Thee  we  praise  ! 

Eternal  King !  our  sovereign  Lord  I 
For  all  Thy  love  our  songs  we  raise, 

Porever  be  Thy  name  adored. 

Through  changing  years,  and  scenes  that  pass 
Like  shadows  on  the  path  of  time, 

Thy  mercies  all  our  praise  surpass, 
Enduring  as  Thy  truth  sublime. 

The  promise  spoken  by  Thy  Son, 
Thy  saints  in  holy  trust  believed, 

In  tears  and  blood  their  course  they  run 
Till  they  the  conqueror's  crown  received. 

Lo  I  I  am  with  you  to  the  end  !  ' ' 
.     We  praise  Thee  for  the  Word  divine  ; 
Give  grace,  O  Lord  !  all  hearts  to  blend 
In  love  to  this  dear  Church  of  Thine. 

Give  to  this  Zion  life  and  light  I 

Build  up  its  walls  and  altars  strong ! 

Till  all  its  love  and  labor  bright 
Shall  end  in  Heaven's  eternal  song. 


I04 


Quarter-Millennial  Anniversary. 


Note. 

5he  foUowing  diagiiaiw   accui]ately   i|cpricscnt8'  the   lettcijiiic}   upon 

the  top  of  the  §t^emo»|ia]  ^an&,  pijesented  on  the  day  of 

the   comwemoi|ation   to    the   ^enioij  itfastoij,  by 

J^.  H.  "(M.  "V'an  1i?echten,  Bsq.,  as  noticed 

in   the   pi|efatoriy   i^emaiihs  by 

Bij.  l^eiimihje. 


.        .VEPiAlL^yCcO. 


C.    H.  JONES  &  CO.,  POINTERS, 


DATE  DUE 

A  p-t^          .                 -^ 

k 

UAV  _-j 

friiiP^ 

jafiu** 

fr^ 

' 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  US    A. 

